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: 6,900 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	714
Success rate	93.3%	97.2%
Payload to LEO (kg)	3,800	6,900
Length (m)	44	51.1
Diameter (m)	2.8	2.95
Launch mass (t)	230	313
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 U

Flight record

97.2% success rate694 of 714 flown · 20 failed

1973peak 1979 · 47 flights2017

Maiden flight 1973-05-18. Retired.

PSLV is built by Indian Space Research Organization of India (company profile on Space Index).Soyuz U is built by Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) 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.