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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 × | Palmachim Airbase 🇮🇱 Israel Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | ESA / CNES | Roscosmos | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries |
| Ownership | International Consortium | Government | Military |
| Region | 🇫🇷 France | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
| Launch pads | 3 (ELA-4 Ariane 6, ZLV Vega-C, ELS Soyuz-retired 2022)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 4–8as of [1]Ariane 6 cadence ramping post-2024 return-to-flight; Vega-C return TBD | 3-5 | 1–2as of [1] |
| Max payload (LEO) | 10,735 kg to GTO (Ariane 6.4, dual-payload)as of [2] ↑ Highest capacity | — | ~350 kg to retrograde LEO (Shavit-2)as of [1]Launches westward over Mediterranean due to geopolitical overflight constraints; unusual retrograde orbit |
| First operational launch | 1968-04-09as of [1]First Véronique sounding rocket; first orbital launch 1979-12-24 (Ariane 1, CAT-01) | 2016 | 1988-09-19as of [2]Ofeq-1 — Israel's first satellite; first nation ever to launch into retrograde orbit from a dedicated national site |
| Regulatory regime | ESA Convention + French Space Operations Act (LOS, 2008) under CNES oversight | Roscosmos (Russian federal jurisdiction, no foreign lease) | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program |
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