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Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Guiana Space Centre 🇫🇷 France Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Wallops Flight Facility 🇺🇸 United States Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | ESA / CNES | Camden County (project canceled) | NASA |
| Ownership | International Consortium | Government | Public-Private |
| Region | 🇫🇷 France | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Launch pads | 3 (ELA-4 Ariane 6, ZLV Vega-C, ELS Soyuz-retired 2022)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — | 2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 4–8as of [1]Ariane 6 cadence ramping post-2024 return-to-flight; Vega-C return TBD | 0 | 6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaigns |
| Max payload (LEO) | 10,735 kg to GTO (Ariane 6.4, dual-payload)as of [2] | — | 8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity |
| First operational launch | 1968-04-09as of [1]First Véronique sounding rocket; first orbital launch 1979-12-24 (Ariane 1, CAT-01) | 2015 | 1945-06-27as of [1]First Wallops Island V-2/WAC Corporal test; orbital launches began 1961 |
| Regulatory regime | ESA Convention + French Space Operations Act (LOS, 2008) under CNES oversight | FAA-AST Launch Site Operator License (lapsed); CEQA-equivalent environmental review process never completed for orbital operations | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement |
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