Soyuz 2.1a vs Falcon 9

Soyuz descends from the R-7 — the most-flown rocket family in history, a design lineage that launched Sputnik in 1957 and has flown, in evolving variants, for nearly seventy years. The 2.1a is its current crew-rated form, carrying cosmonauts and astronauts to the ISS from Baikonur. No other rocket comes close to the family's accumulated flight count.

The Falcon 9 is the challenger to that legacy: in barely a decade and a half it has become the most-flown orbital rocket of the modern era, on the strength of first-stage reuse and a weekly cadence. At current rates the Falcon 9 family will eventually overtake the R-7's lifetime total — a passing of the torch between two eras of launch vehicle design.

Soyuz rocket launching the Expedition 65 crew from Baikonur — NASA/Bill Ingalls

Expedition 72 Soyuz rolling out to the Baikonur launch pad by train — NASA/Bill Ingalls

Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad — NASA/Bill Ingalls

Falcon 9 launching NASA's Crew-8 mission to the ISS — NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Falcon 9 lifting off on NASA's Crew-10 mission — NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Falcon 9 first stage returning for landing after the NG-20 launch — NASA/Kim Shiflett

Metric	Soyuz 2.1a Progress Rocket Space Center · Russian	Falcon 9 SpaceX · American
LEO Capacity(kg)	7,020	22,800
GTO Capacity(kg)	2,810	8,300
Height(m)	46.3	70
Diameter(m)	2.95	3.65
Launch Mass(t)	312	549
Total Launches	58	630
Success Rate	98%	100%
Landing Success	—	99%
Status	Active	Active
Reusable	Expendable	♻ Reusable

Head-to-head charts

Payload capacity(metric tons)

Size

Launch record

The short answer

The most-flown rocket family of the 20th century against the one that will own the 21st: heritage and refinement on one side, reuse economics on the other.

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Data: Launch Library 2 (TheSpaceDevs) — served from the SpaceRocket launch database.