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Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Palmachim Airbase 🇮🇱 Israel Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Esrange Space Center 🇸🇪 Sweden Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries | Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) | Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC) |
| Ownership | Military | State Enterprise | Public-Private |
| Region | 🇮🇱 Israel | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
| Launch pads | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 1 orbital pad (under development; multiple sounding rocket launch rails)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — |
| Annual launches | 1–2as of [1] | 8–12 suborbitalas of [1]Orbital capacity ~100 kg planned for 2027; SSC orbital pad construction ongoing | 0 |
| Max payload (LEO) | ~350 kg to retrograde LEO (Shavit-2)as of [1]Launches westward over Mediterranean due to geopolitical overflight constraints; unusual retrograde orbit | suborbital only (historical); ~100 kg to SSO planned 2027as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity | — |
| First operational launch | 1988-09-19as of [2]Ofeq-1 — Israel's first satellite; first nation ever to launch into retrograde orbit from a dedicated national site | 1966-11-19as of [1]First Nike-Cajun sounding rocket from Esrange; first European orbital launch site when orbital pad opens | 2025 |
| Regulatory regime | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program | Swedish Space Act (1982:963) + Swedish National Space Agency; EU/EASA airspace coordination | Portuguese Space Agency (Portugal Space) + ANACOM, under Decree-Law 16/2019 (Space Activities Act) |
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