Every rocket in Space Manager, ranked and rated, with notes on when a particular vehicle might actually earn its place in your fleet. I’ve gone through the whole roster and sorted them by class, so you can see at a glance which ones are worth your money and which ones you should avoid altogether.
A quick disclaimer before we start: this guide reflects the game as it stood on October 16, 2026. Space Manager updates regularly and quietly, so numbers may shift under you. Reader beware. One thing worth understanding before you read any of the rankings: the cheapest rocket that can carry a contract dry isn’t always the smart play. If your rocket has payload capacity left over, the game fills the payload’s propellant automatically and for free. That means an oversized rocket can actually leave you with more payload propellant, which lets you shift the satellite’s orbit further for data capture. If the wet payload weight listed on the launch screen is within a couple tons of the rocket’s max payload, you might genuinely benefit from sizing up.
Light Rockets
These are the small-pad, small-payload options. Most of them are cheap, and most of them sit on the lower end of the ranking for good reason.
Astra 3 (C): The cheapest and lightest rocket in the game. It’s built for very small loads to very low Earth orbit, which is a job you’ll hardly ever be doing. Still, when that job comes up, it saves you money.
Electron (A): A dramatic improvement on the Astra in both payload and max orbit, and it’s still very cheap. This is the light-payload LEO workhorse, plain and simple.
Zephyr (D): A modest payload bump over the Electron, but it suffers from a very low orbital limit. You’ll hardly ever use it — though when you do, it saves you some money.
Alpha (D): Same strengths and same problems as the Zephyr, just with more payload for more cost.
Pegasus XL (F): Completely useless. It’s inferior to the Electron in every way that matters — less payload, lower orbits, more expensive. In real life it’s supposed to be air-launched, which might help its case, but in-game it just sucks.
Argus (C): The cheapest new-buy MEO option. It’s inferior to the Falcon 9 unless you specifically need to launch a sub-4-ton payload into a 2000–5000 km orbit — in which case, this is the rocket you want. You’ll rarely use it, but it’s technically the best option for a few contracts.
Soyuz-FG (D): Completely inferior to the Falcon 9 except in new-buy cost, but it fits on a small launchpad. It’s also completely inferior to the Argus, except in payload. You’ll buy one for the task list, but that should probably be the last one you ever buy.
Hydra (D): Expensive and unreliable, but it sips fuel and fits on a small launchpad. At typical fuel prices, total launch cost lands about the same as a reused Falcon Heavy, for slightly less delta-V and limited to roughly 5% of the payload. Not worth it.
Medium Rockets
The mid-sized pad class, where a couple of genuine workhorses live alongside some real duds.
Falcon 9 (A): Reusability cuts its price by more than half, assuming you can avoid blowing them up. It’s thirstier than you expect, but it has a great payload rating and can service pretty much everything you need in LEO and a lot of MEO too.
Atlas V (A): Surprisingly useful — not as an alternative to its neighboring Falcon 9, but to the bigger Falcon Heavy. It’s the cheapest, lightest, and most fuel-efficient rocket for the Moon and inner planets, as long as you don’t need to lift a heavy payload.
Lunaris-1 (D): A very high Earth orbit limit (better than anything cheaper than the Erebus) and fair payload. Usually the Falcon Heavy is a better choice, and cheaper when reused, but for those rare 100,000–300,000 km Earth orbit missions, this is your ticket.
Chimera (F): Strictly inferior to the Falcon Heavy, unless you really need to use a Medium launchpad for some reason.
Ariane 5 (F): Worse in every way than the Falcon Heavy, except for fuel use. Even as a new-buy it’s so much more expensive that you’re better off buying the Falcon Heavy and paying for the extra fuel.
Heavy Rockets
The heavy class runs from one of the best rockets in the game all the way down to some truly regrettable purchases.
Falcon Heavy (S): Inexpensive, huge payload capacity, and interplanetary-capable. Flexible and cheap when reused. Make sure you’re getting good fuel prices, because it uses nearly 1.5 megatons for every launch. It’s so good that it makes almost every similar rocket pointless.
Titan IV (F): Similar capabilities to the Falcon Heavy, but it costs more than twice as much even new-buy, and it can only lift half as much.
Ares-1 (B): Fairly high delta-V and reasonable payload make this a good budget alternative to the Saturn V for reaching the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, if you choose your launch windows well.
Kronos Heavy (C): Absolutely massive payload that you’ll almost never need. Otherwise similar performance to the Ares. Great to have when you need it, but that won’t be often.
N1 (D): Technically higher delta-V than the Ares and Kronos, but not enough to really matter, and it costs 80% of the Saturn V, which is a much better rocket in every way but price. Skip it.
STS (F): The 8% reuse discount for the Shuttle is a travesty. If it were represented realistically it might be OK, but as-is it’s complete trash.
Saturn V (A): A great rocket for the outer planets and surprisingly cheap for its capabilities.
SLS Block 1 (F): Outclassed in every way by the cheaper Saturn V. Do not buy.
Superheavy Rockets
Yes, these are all just labeled “Heavy” in-game, but they’re a different beast entirely.
Prometheus Heavy (A): Since we’re limited to direct ascent, the jump all the way up to 21,000 delta-V is very, very valuable. It’s thirsty and expensive, but it’s the only real option for a LOT of contracts.
Hyperion (C): 65% more money than the Prometheus for 10% more rocket. Poor value, but sometimes you need it anyway.
Helios (B): 50% more money than the Hyperion for 15% more rocket, and there are contracts that actually require that delta-V. Use it when needed, but avoid it if you can get away with a cheaper rocket.
Erebus (D): Technically an OK value, but you’ll never need it. Pick better launch windows.
Daedalus (D): Like the Erebus, but more.