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Over 70 licensed launch facilities now operate globally — 20 commissioned since 2020.
| Attribute | Tanegashima Space Center 🇯🇵 Japan Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Andoya Spaceport 🇳🇴 Norway Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA | Andoya Space | SaxaVord Spaceport Ltd |
| Ownership | Government | State Enterprise | Private |
| Region | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇳🇴 Norway | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Launch pads | 2 (Yoshinobu Launch Complex: LP-1 H-IIA/B, LP-2 H3)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 2 sounding rocket rails; 1 orbital pad under developmentas of [1] | — |
| Annual launches | 2–4as of [1] | 6–10 suborbitalas of [1]Orbital launches pending; sounding rocket campaigns only through 2026 | 0 |
| Max payload (LEO) | 16,500 kg to LEO (H3-24L variant)as of [1]H3 first successful orbital flight February 2024 ↑ Highest capacity | suborbital only (< 1,000 kg payload to apogee)as of [1]Orbital LV commercial contracts under negotiation as of Q1 2026 | — |
| First operational launch | 1975-09-09as of [1]ETS-1 (Kiku) on N-I rocket — Japan's first domestically-launched satellite | 1962-08-18as of [1]First sounding rocket from Andøya Island; orbital capability planned late 2020s | 2022 |
| Regulatory regime | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023) | Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry & Fisheries + Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA); aligned with EASA airspace coordination | UK CAA under the Space Industry Act 2018 + Space Industry Regulations 2021 |
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