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Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Wallops Flight Facility 🇺🇸 United States Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Alcantara Launch Center 🇧🇷 Brazil Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Oita Prefecture / NTT Communications consortium | NASA | Brazilian Air Force (FAB) / Agência Espacial Brasileira (AEB) |
| Ownership | Public-Private | Public-Private | Government |
| Region | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| Launch pads | — | 2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 1 (CLA mobile launch vehicle; VLM-1 pad under development)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 0 | 6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaigns | 0–1 (first orbital launch pending)as of [1]Sounding rockets operational; VLM-1 orbital debut targeted 2027 |
| Max payload (LEO) | — | 8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity | ~150 kg to SSO (VLM-1 target)as of [1]Near-equatorial location (2.3°S) provides ~460 m/s velocity bonus for GTO missions |
| First operational launch | 2020 | 1945-06-27as of [1]First Wallops Island V-2/WAC Corporal test; orbital launches began 1961 | 1990-11-21as of [1]VS-30 sounding rocket; first orbital attempt VLS-1 1997 (pad explosion); new era with VLM-1 |
| Regulatory regime | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023); Oita Airport operates under Japan Civil Aviation Bureau | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement | AEB regulatory framework; 2019 U.S.–Brazil Technology Safeguards Agreement enables U.S.-origin payload launches |
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