juliensimon/launch-cost-to-leo

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "Launch Cost to LEO"
language:
- en
description: >-
Historical and current launch vehicle costs per kilogram to low Earth orbit (LEO).
63 vehicles from 11 countries/regions, including cost per launch,
payload capacity, cost per kg, and reusability status. All costs in 2024 USD.
size_categories:
- n<1K
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- rockets
- launch-cost
- economics
- orbital-mechanics
- open-data
- tabular-data
configs:
- config_name: default
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/launch-cost-to-leo.parquet
---

# Launch Cost to LEO

*Part of the [Orbital Mechanics Datasets](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/orbital-mechanics-datasets-69c24caca4ab3934c9856994) collection on Hugging Face.*

How much does it cost to put one kilogram into low Earth orbit? This dataset tracks
**63** launch vehicles from **11** countries/regions, comparing historical
and current costs per kg to LEO — from the Saturn V era to Starship.

## Dataset description

Each record represents one launch vehicle configuration with its payload capacity to LEO,
cost per launch, and derived cost per kilogram. Costs are normalized to **2024 USD**.
Both expendable and reusable configurations are included where applicable.

The cheapest vehicle by cost/kg is **Starship (target)** at **$67/kg**,
while the most expensive is **KSLV-1 (Naro)** at **$2,000,000/kg**.
The median cost across all vehicles is **$9,167/kg**.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `vehicle` | string | Launch vehicle name and variant |
| `operator` | string | Primary operator or manufacturer |
| `country` | string | Country or region of origin |
| `first_flight_year` | int | Year of first flight |
| `payload_leo_kg` | int | Maximum payload to LEO in kg |
| `cost_per_launch_usd` | int | Cost per launch in 2024 USD |
| `cost_per_kg_usd` | int | Derived cost per kg to LEO (cost / payload) |
| `reusable` | bool | Whether the vehicle is partially or fully reusable |
| `status` | string | Current status: active, retired, or in development |
| `source` | string | Data source citation |

## Quick stats

- **63** launch vehicles (40 active, 21 retired)
- **11** countries/regions
- **7** reusable vehicles
- Cost per kg range: **$67** (Starship (target)) to **$2,000,000** (KSLV-1 (Naro))
- Median cost per kg: **$9,167**

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/launch-cost-to-leo", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Cheapest vehicles by cost per kg
print(df.nsmallest(10, "cost_per_kg_usd")[["vehicle", "cost_per_kg_usd", "payload_leo_kg"]])

# Active vehicles only
active = df[df["status"] == "active"]
print(f"{len(active)} active vehicles")
print(active.sort_values("cost_per_kg_usd")[["vehicle", "operator", "cost_per_kg_usd"]])

# Reusable vs expendable
for reusable, group in df.groupby("reusable"):
label = "Reusable" if reusable else "Expendable"
print(f"{label}: median ${group['cost_per_kg_usd'].median():,.0f}/kg")

# Cost trend over time
print(df.groupby("first_flight_year")["cost_per_kg_usd"].median().tail(20))
```

## Data sources

Costs compiled from multiple public sources including:
- NASA historical cost data and OIG reports
- FAA/AST Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation
- CSIS Aerospace Security: [Space Launch to LEO — How Much Does It Cost?](https://aerospace.csis.org/data/space-launch-to-low-earth-orbit-how-much-does-it-cost/)
- SpaceX, Rocket Lab, ULA, Arianespace published pricing
- ESA, JAXA, ISRO official cost figures
- Bryce Tech / BryceTech reports
- Industry analysis and press releases

All costs adjusted to 2024 USD where historical.

## Update schedule

Static dataset — updated manually when significant new vehicles enter service
or pricing changes materially.

## Related datasets

- [gcat-launch-vehicles](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/gcat-launch-vehicles) — GCAT launch vehicle specs, engines, and stages
- [space-launch-log](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-launch-log) — Complete global launch history
- [space-track-satcat](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-satcat) — NORAD satellite catalog

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Support

If you find this dataset useful, please give it a ❤️ on the [dataset page](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/launch-cost-to-leo) and share feedback in the Community tab! Also consider giving a ⭐️ to the [space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets) repo.

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{launch_cost_to_leo,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {Launch Cost to LEO},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/launch-cost-to-leo},
note = {Compiled from NASA, FAA/AST, ESA, SpaceX, and industry sources}
}
```

## License

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)