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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 × | Plesetsk Cosmodrome 🇷🇺 Russia Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries | Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) | ISC Kosmotras (defunct) / Russian Strategic Rocket Forces |
| Ownership | Military | Military | Military |
| Region | 🇮🇱 Israel | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Launch pads | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] | 4 active (Sites 43/3, 43/4 Soyuz-2; Site 35 Angara-1.2; Site 35/1 Angara-A5)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — |
| Annual launches | 1–2as of [1] | ~10as of [1]Military-dominant cadence; exact figure varies; estimate from public manifests | 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 | 24,500 kg to LEO (Angara A5)as 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 | 1966-03-17as of [1]Vostok-2 rocket — Plesetsk's first orbital launch | 1999 |
| Regulatory regime | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program | Roscosmos State Corporation + Russian Ministry of Defence; subject to ITAR / OFAC / EU sanctions post-2022 | Russian Ministry of Defence + Roscosmos; commercial operations ceased after Russia-Ukraine cooperation collapse 2014/2022 |
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