Space launch site(s)

Algeria

none; note - in 1947, Algeria began hosting a French military rocket test site, which was the continent of Africa's first rocket launch site; it was called the Centre Interarmées d’Essais d’Engins Spéciaux (CIEES or Interarmy Special Vehicles Test Center) and was in service until 1967

Argentina

Manuel Belgrano Space Center (Buenos Aires province): planned launch platform of the Tronador SLV (see Appendix S); Punta Indio Space Center (Buenos Aires province): test facility; Teofilo Tabanera Space Center (CETT; Cordoba Province): testing, mission control site (2024)

Australia

Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex (commercial site, South Australia); Arnhem Space Center (commercial site, Northern Territory) (2024)

Brazil

Alcantara Launch Site (Maranhão state); Barreira do Inferno Launch Center (Rio Grande do Norte state) (2024)

Canada

Churchill Rocket Research Range (sounding rockets; Manitoba); constructing a private, commercial space launch site in Nova Scotia (2023)

China

Jiuquan Launch Center (Inner Mongolia), Xichang Launch Center (Sichuan), Wenchang Launch Center (Hainan; Wenchang includes a commercial launch pad, the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site, which was scheduled to be completed in 2024), Taiyuan Launch Center (Shanxi), Eastern Spaceport (Shandong; a coastal spaceport designed to facilitate maritime launches); note - China also has a ship capable of conducting space launches (2024)

European Union

ESA’s spaceport is located in Kourou, French Guiana; Europe also has or is developing commercial space ports in Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, as well as maritime launch capabilities with a logistics base in Germany (2024)

France

Guiana Space Center (Kourou, French Guiana; also serves as the spaceport for the ESA); note – prior to the completion of the Guiana Space Center in 1969, France launched rockets from Algeria (2024)

Germany

establishing a commercial ship-based launch pad 350 kms (217 miles) off the German coast in the remotest corner of its exclusive economic zone; each launch is to be supervised by a control ship and a multifunctional mission control center in Bremen, Germany; the launch ship will be based out of Bremerhaven (2024)

India

Satish Dhawan Space Center (aka Sriharikota Range; located in Andhra Pradesh); Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (Kerala) (2023)

Indonesia

Stasiun Peluncuran Roket rocket launch facility (West Java); building an space launch facility/spaceport on Biak, Papua (estimated completion date is 2025) (2023)

Iran

Imam Khomeini Space Center (aka Semnan Space Center; Semnan province); Shahroud Space Center (IGRC military base; Semnan Province); Qom Space Center (Qom Province); inaugurated its first space monitoring center located near Delijan (Markazi Province) in 2013 (2023)

Israel

Palmachim Airbase (Central district) (2023)

Italy

the Broglio (aka San Marco, Malindi) Space Center, located near Malindi, Kenya, served from 1967 to 1988 as an Italian and international satellite launch facility; in 2020, Kenya concluded a new deal with Italy to conduct rocket launches from the site again in the future; in 2018, the Italian Government designated the Taranto-Grottaglie Airport as a future spaceport and signed framework agreements with commercial space companies that could lead to suborbital and orbital launches from what would be called the Grottaglie Spaceport (2023)

Japan

Tanegashima Space Center/Yoshinobu Launch Complex (Kagoshima), Uchinoura Space Center (Kagoshima), Noshiro Testing Center (Akita) (2023)

Kazakhstan

Baikonur Cosmodrome/Space Center (Baikonur; the cosmodrome and the surrounding area are leased and administered by Russia until 2050 for approximately $115 million/year; Baikonur cosmodrome was originally built by the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s; largest space launch facility in the World and site of the World’s first successful satellite launch in 1957); note – in 2018, Kazakhstan and Russia agreed that Kazakhstan would build, maintain, and operate a new space launch facility (Baiterek) at the Baikonur space center (estimated to be ready for operations in 2024) (2023)

Kenya

Luigi Broglio Space Center (aka Malindi Space Center, Malindi Station, San Marco Satellite Launching and Tracking Station; Kilifi County; over 20 sounding rockets and nine satellites launched from the site, 1967-1989); note – Kenya’s equatorial latitude makes it an attractive location for near-equatorial-orbit rocket and satellite launches (2023)

Korea, North

Sohae Satellite Launching Station (aka Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center; North Pyongan province); Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground (North Hamgyong province) (2023)

Korea, South

Naro Space Center (South Jeolla province) (2023)

New Zealand

Mahia Peninsula Launch Complex (Hawke's Bay) (2023)

Norway

Andøya Space Center (Andøya Island; note - first operational spaceport in continental Europe) (2023)

Pakistan

Somiani Flight Test Range (Balochistan); Tilla Satellite Launch Center (aka Tilla Range; Punjab) (2023)

Peru

Punta Lobos Rocket Range (Chilca, Huancayo; used by foreign partners for scientific sounding rocket launches (1970s-1990s; the US used the site for scientific launches in 1975 and 1983) (2023)

Philippines

none; reviewing the possibility of establishing a commercial launchpad, possibly in Mindanao given its proximity to the Equator (2023)

Portugal

in 2019, announced intentions to build a commercial space port on Santa Maria Island in the Azores (2023)

Russia

Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan; Russia leases the enclave for approximately $115 million annually); Vostochny Cosmodrome (Amur Oblast; first launch was in 2016); Plesetsk Cosmodrome (Arkhangel'sk Oblast) (2023)

South Africa

Arniston launch facility (Western Cape) used to support space launch vehicle and ballistic missile program (1980s-1990s); it is now a weapons testing facility called the Denel Overberg Test Range (2024)

Spain

El Arenosillo Experiment Center/Range (Andalusia); private launch site (Teruel province) (2023)

Sweden

Esrange Space Center (Kiruna); Esrange is slated to become a new European launch site for small satellites in 2023; Esrange also accommodates one of the world’s largest civilian satellite ground stations and acts as a hub for Sweden’s satellite station network (2023)

Taiwan

sounding rockets launched from Jui Peng Air Base (Pingtung); in 2021, announced intentions to build future rocket launch site (2023)

Thailand

none, although as of 2023 the Thai Government was reviewing a proposal to build a spaceport (2023)

Turkey (Turkiye)

rocket test launch site on the Black Sea in Sinop Province; the 2021 national space program called for the establishment of a space port; reportedly plans to build a rocket launch site in Somalia or use a sea-launch facility for future space launch vehicles  (2023)

Ukraine

none (leases elsewhere for launches); from 1995-2014, a multinational (Norway, Russia, Ukraine, and the US) commercial space launch company used a mobile maritime launch platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on Zenit-3SL rockets from a former floating oil drilling rig (2023)

United Kingdom

preparing commercial space ports at SaxaVord (Shetland Islands) and Sutherland (Cornwall); a 2021 national space strategy called for additional space launch facilities in Argyll, Prestwick, Outer Hebrides (Scotland), and Snowdonia (Wales) (2023)

United States

has nearly 20 commercial, government, and private space ports hosting Federal Aviation Administration-licensed activity spread across 10 states (Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia) (2023)

World

more than 30 countries have existing or planned commercial or government space launch sites; the US has the most launch sites with nearly 20

note: there were approximately 220 attempted space launches worldwide in 2023