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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 × | Wallops Flight Facility 🇺🇸 United States Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA | Camden County (project canceled) | NASA |
| Ownership | Government | Government | Public-Private |
| Region | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Launch pads | 2 (Yoshinobu Launch Complex: LP-1 H-IIA/B, LP-2 H3)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | — | 2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 2–4as of [1] | 0 | 6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaigns |
| Max payload (LEO) | 16,500 kg to LEO (H3-24L variant)as of [1]H3 first successful orbital flight February 2024 ↑ Highest capacity | — | 8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1] |
| First operational launch | 1975-09-09as of [1]ETS-1 (Kiku) on N-I rocket — Japan's first domestically-launched satellite | 2015 | 1945-06-27as of [1]First Wallops Island V-2/WAC Corporal test; orbital launches began 1961 |
| Regulatory regime | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023) | FAA-AST Launch Site Operator License (lapsed); CEQA-equivalent environmental review process never completed for orbital operations | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement |
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