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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 × | Guiana Space Centre 🇫🇷 France Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA | ESA / CNES | Highlands and Islands Enterprise / Orbex |
| Ownership | Government | International Consortium | Public-Private |
| Region | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇫🇷 France | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Launch pads | 2 (Yoshinobu Launch Complex: LP-1 H-IIA/B, LP-2 H3)as of [1] | 3 (ELA-4 Ariane 6, ZLV Vega-C, ELS Soyuz-retired 2022)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — |
| Annual launches | 2–4as of [1] | 4–8as of [1]Ariane 6 cadence ramping post-2024 return-to-flight; Vega-C return TBD | 0 |
| Max payload (LEO) | 16,500 kg to LEO (H3-24L variant)as of [1]H3 first successful orbital flight February 2024 ↑ Highest capacity | 10,735 kg to GTO (Ariane 6.4, dual-payload)as of [2] | — |
| First operational launch | 1975-09-09as of [1]ETS-1 (Kiku) on N-I rocket — Japan's first domestically-launched satellite | 1968-04-09as of [1]First Véronique sounding rocket; first orbital launch 1979-12-24 (Ariane 1, CAT-01) | 2023 |
| Regulatory regime | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023) | ESA Convention + French Space Operations Act (LOS, 2008) under CNES oversight | UK CAA under the Space Industry Act 2018; planning consent granted Aug 2022 by Highland Council |
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