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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 × | Wallops Flight Facility 🇺🇸 United States Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | SaxaVord Spaceport Ltd | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries | NASA |
| Ownership | Private | Military | Public-Private |
| Region | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 🇮🇱 Israel | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Launch pads | — | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] | 2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1] ↑ Most pads |
| Annual launches | 0 | 1–2as of [1] | 6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaigns |
| 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 | 8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity |
| First operational launch | 2022 | 1988-09-19as of [2]Ofeq-1 — Israel's first satellite; first nation ever to launch into retrograde orbit from a dedicated national site | 1945-06-27as of [1]First Wallops Island V-2/WAC Corporal test; orbital launches began 1961 |
| Regulatory regime | UK CAA under the Space Industry Act 2018 + Space Industry Regulations 2021 | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement |
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