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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 × | Plesetsk Cosmodrome 🇷🇺 Russia Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × | Tanegashima Space Center 🇯🇵 Japan Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Remove × |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | NASA | Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) | JAXA |
| Ownership | Public-Private | Military | Government |
| Region | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Launch pads | 2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1] | 4 active (Sites 43/3, 43/4 Soyuz-2; Site 35 Angara-1.2; Site 35/1 Angara-A5)as of [1] ↑ Most pads | 2 (Yoshinobu Launch Complex: LP-1 H-IIA/B, LP-2 H3)as of [1] |
| Annual launches | 6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaigns | ~10as of [1]Military-dominant cadence; exact figure varies; estimate from public manifests | 2–4as of [1] |
| Max payload (LEO) | 8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1] | 24,500 kg to LEO (Angara A5)as of [1] | 16,500 kg to LEO (H3-24L variant)as of [1]H3 first successful orbital flight February 2024 ↑ Highest capacity |
| First operational launch | 1945-06-27as of [1]First Wallops Island V-2/WAC Corporal test; orbital launches began 1961 | 1966-03-17as of [1]Vostok-2 rocket — Plesetsk's first orbital launch | 1975-09-09as of [1]ETS-1 (Kiku) on N-I rocket — Japan's first domestically-launched satellite |
| Regulatory regime | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement | Roscosmos State Corporation + Russian Ministry of Defence; subject to ITAR / OFAC / EU sanctions post-2022 | MEXT / Cabinet Office Space Activities Act (2018, amended 2023) |
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