Head to head

Soyuz U 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

Soyuz U: 6,900 kg

Vega-C: 3,300 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	Soyuz U	Vega-C
Flights flown	714	8
Success rate	97.2%	87.5%
Payload to LEO (kg)	6,900	3,300
Length (m)	51.1	34.8
Diameter (m)	2.95	3
Launch mass (t)	313	210
Stages	3	4

Soyuz U

Flight record

97.2% success rate694 of 714 flown · 20 failed

1973peak 1979 · 47 flights2017

Maiden flight 1973-05-18. 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.

Soyuz U is built by Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) 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: Soyuz U · 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.