Head to head

Molniya 8K78 vs Vega-C

Two vehicles in the same payload class. Every figure below comes from the same two sources for both rockets, and a row appears only when both publish the input.

Payload to low Earth orbit

Relative

Molniya 8K78: 1,900 kg

Vega-C: 3,300 kg

Side by side

8 comparable figures

The highlighted value wins the row. Rows where neither direction is better, like length or stage count, highlight nothing.

Metric	Molniya 8K78	Vega-C
Flights flown	40	8
Success rate	50%	87.5%
Payload to LEO (kg)	1,900	3,300
Liftoff thrust (kN)	813	2,974
Length (m)	43.44	34.8
Diameter (m)	3	3
Launch mass (t)	305	210
Stages	4	4

Molniya 8K78

Flight record

50% success rate20 of 40 flown · 20 failed

1960peak 1965 · 11 flights1967

Maiden flight 1960-10-10. Retired.

Vega-C

Flight record

87.5% success rate7 of 8 flown · 1 failed

2022peak 2026 · 4 flights2026

Maiden flight 2022-07-13. Still flying.

Molniya 8K78 is built by Strategic Rocket Forces of Russia.Vega-C is built by Avio S.p.A of Italy (company profile on Space Index).

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Molniya 8K78 · Vega-C.

Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.