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Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Esrange Space Center 🇸🇪 Sweden Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Tanegashima Space Center 🇯🇵 Japan Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) | JAXA | Highlands and Islands Enterprise / Orbex |
| Ownership | State Enterprise | Government | Public-Private |
| Region | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Launch pads | 1 orbital pad (under development; multiple sounding rocket launch rails)as of [1] | 2 (Yoshinobu Launch Complex: LP-1 H-IIA/B, LP-2 H3)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — |
| Annual launches | 8–12 suborbitalas of [1]Orbital capacity ~100 kg planned for 2027; SSC orbital pad construction ongoing | 2–4as of [1] | 0 |
| Max payload (LEO) | suborbital only (historical); ~100 kg to SSO planned 2027as of [1] | 16,500 kg to LEO (H3-24L variant)as of [1]H3 first successful orbital flight February 2024 ↑ Highest capacity | — |
| First operational launch | 1966-11-19as of [1]First Nike-Cajun sounding rocket from Esrange; first European orbital launch site when orbital pad opens | 1975-09-09as of [1]ETS-1 (Kiku) on N-I rocket — Japan's first domestically-launched satellite | 2023 |
| Regulatory regime | Swedish Space Act (1982:963) + Swedish National Space Agency; EU/EASA airspace coordination | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023) | UK CAA under the Space Industry Act 2018; planning consent granted Aug 2022 by Highland Council |
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