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Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Xichang Satellite Launch Center 🇨🇳 China 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 | Spaceport Cornwall / Cornwall Council | CNSA / PLA Strategic Support Force | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries |
| Ownership | Public-Private | Military | Military |
| Region | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 🇨🇳 China | 🇮🇱 Israel |
| Launch pads | — | 3 active (LC-2, LC-3 Long March 3A/3B/3C; LC-4 Long March 3B upgrades)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 0-1 | ~15as of [1] | 1–2as of [1] |
| Max payload (LEO) | — | 11,500 kg to GTO (Long March 3B/E)as of [1] ↑ 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 | 2021 | 1984-01-29as of [1]China's first GTO orbital launch; first commercial GEO satellite (AsiaSat-1) 1990 | 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 | UK CAA under the Space Industry Act 2018; horizontal-launch range license (2022) | Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program |
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