Head to head

PSLV vs Soyuz-U

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-U: 7,050 kg

Side by side

7 comparable figures

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

Metric	PSLV	Soyuz-U
Flights flown	30	71
Success rate	93.3%	100%
Payload to LEO (kg)	3,800	7,050
Length (m)	44	34.54
Diameter (m)	2.8	2.95
Launch mass (t)	230	298
Stages	4	2

PSLV

Flight record

93.3% success rate28 of 30 flown · 2 failed

1993peak 2007 · 2 flights2024

Maiden flight 2007-04-23. Still flying.

Soyuz-U

Flight record

100% success rate71 of 71 flown

1982peak 1987 · 10 flights1995

Maiden flight 1982-12-23. Retired.

PSLV is built by Indian Space Research Organization of India (company profile on Space Index).Soyuz-U is built by Soviet Space Program of Russia.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: PSLV · Soyuz-U.

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