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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 × | Xichang Satellite Launch Center 🇨🇳 China Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Camden County (project canceled) | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries | CNSA / PLA Strategic Support Force |
| Ownership | Government | Military | Military |
| Region | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇮🇱 Israel | 🇨🇳 China |
| Launch pads | — | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] | 3 active (LC-2, LC-3 Long March 3A/3B/3C; LC-4 Long March 3B upgrades)as of [1] ↑ Most pads |
| Annual launches | 0 | 1–2as of [1] | ~15as of [1] |
| 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 | 11,500 kg to GTO (Long March 3B/E)as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity |
| First operational launch | 2015 | 1988-09-19as of [2]Ofeq-1 — Israel's first satellite; first nation ever to launch into retrograde orbit from a dedicated national site | 1984-01-29as of [1]China's first GTO orbital launch; first commercial GEO satellite (AsiaSat-1) 1990 |
| Regulatory regime | FAA-AST Launch Site Operator License (lapsed); CEQA-equivalent environmental review process never completed for orbital operations | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program | Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) |
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