Pick up to 4 launch sites to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.
Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Plesetsk Cosmodrome 🇷🇺 Russia 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 | Oita Prefecture / NTT Communications consortium | Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) | CNSA / PLA Strategic Support Force |
| Ownership | Public-Private | Military | Military |
| Region | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇨🇳 China |
| Launch pads | — | 4 active (Sites 43/3, 43/4 Soyuz-2; Site 35 Angara-1.2; Site 35/1 Angara-A5)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 3 active (LC-2, LC-3 Long March 3A/3B/3C; LC-4 Long March 3B upgrades)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 0 | ~10as of [1]Military-dominant cadence; exact figure varies; estimate from public manifests | ~15as of [1] |
| Max payload (LEO) | — | 24,500 kg to LEO (Angara A5)as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity | 11,500 kg to GTO (Long March 3B/E)as of [1] |
| First operational launch | 2020 | 1966-03-17as of [1]Vostok-2 rocket — Plesetsk's first orbital launch | 1984-01-29as of [1]China's first GTO orbital launch; first commercial GEO satellite (AsiaSat-1) 1990 |
| Regulatory regime | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023); Oita Airport operates under Japan Civil Aviation Bureau | Roscosmos State Corporation + Russian Ministry of Defence; subject to ITAR / OFAC / EU sanctions post-2022 | Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) |
Pure URL state — no JavaScript, no localStorage, no cookies. Bookmark or share the URL and the comparison reproduces exactly. Top 20 entries have full CitedFigure attribution to primary agency sources (NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA, KARI).