Head to head

PSLV vs Soyuz 2.1a

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

PSLV: 3,800 kg

Soyuz 2.1a: 7,020 kg

Side by side

12 comparable figures

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

Metric	PSLV	Soyuz 2.1a
Flights flown	30	58
Success rate	93.3%	98.3%
Payload to LEO (kg)	3,800	7,020
Payload to GTO (kg)	1,200	2,810
Payload to SSO (kg)	1,092	4,230
Launch cost	$16M	$80M
Cost per kg to LEO	$4,211	$11,396
Liftoff thrust (kN)	4,847	4,149
Length (m)	44	46.3
Diameter (m)	2.8	2.95
Launch mass (t)	230	312
Stages	4	3

PSLV

Flight record

93.3% success rate28 of 30 flown · 2 failed

1993peak 2007 · 2 flights2024

Maiden flight 2007-04-23. Still flying.

Soyuz 2.1a

Flight record

98.3% success rate57 of 58 flown · 1 failed

2004peak 2023 · 7 flights2026

Maiden flight 2004-11-04. Still flying.

PSLV is built by Indian Space Research Organization of India (company profile on Space Index).Soyuz 2.1a is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: PSLV · Soyuz 2.1a.

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