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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 × | Palmachim Airbase 🇮🇱 Israel Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Esrange Space Center 🇸🇪 Sweden Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | NASA | Israel Defense Forces / Israel Aerospace Industries | Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) |
| Ownership | Public-Private | Military | State Enterprise |
| Region | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇮🇱 Israel | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| Launch pads | 2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 1 active (classified IAF facility)as of [1] | 1 orbital pad (under development; multiple sounding rocket launch rails)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaigns | 1–2as of [1] | 8–12 suborbitalas of [1]Orbital capacity ~100 kg planned for 2027; SSC orbital pad construction ongoing |
| Max payload (LEO) | 8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1] ↑ Highest capacity | ~350 kg to retrograde LEO (Shavit-2)as of [1]Launches westward over Mediterranean due to geopolitical overflight constraints; unusual retrograde orbit | suborbital only (historical); ~100 kg to SSO planned 2027as of [1] |
| First operational launch | 1945-06-27as of [1]First Wallops Island V-2/WAC Corporal test; orbital launches began 1961 | 1988-09-19as of [2]Ofeq-1 — Israel's first satellite; first nation ever to launch into retrograde orbit from a dedicated national site | 1966-11-19as of [1]First Nike-Cajun sounding rocket from Esrange; first European orbital launch site when orbital pad opens |
| Regulatory regime | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement | Israel Space Agency (ISA) civil oversight; Ministry of Defense controls dual-use launches and Ofeq reconnaissance program | Swedish Space Act (1982:963) + Swedish National Space Agency; EU/EASA airspace coordination |
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