space agencies

Government space agencies, established by the governments of countries and regional agencies (groupings of countries) are established as a means for advocating for engaging in activities related to outer space, exploitation of space systems, and/or space exploration. The listings summarize all countries' and regional authorities' space agencies with a comparative summary of demonstrated capabilities.

The objectives include national prestige, exploitation of remote sensing information, communications, education, and economic development. These agencies tend to be civil in nature (vs military) and serve to advance the benefits of exploitation and/or exploration of space. They span the spectrum from old organizations with small budgets to mature national or regional enterprises such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States, the European Space Agency (ESA) which coordinates for more than 20 constituent countries, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos) of Russia, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the China National Space Agency (CNSA).

The space agency listings are segregated to enable identification of subsets of the complete list that have advanced to higher levels or technical or programmatic proficiency in accordance with the following:
* Establishment of agency, initial exploitation of space-based systems
* Development of launch capability
* Capacity for extraterrestrial exploration
* Demonstration of human spaceflight capability across one or more of these domains

Overview

nearly 80 different government space agencies are in existence, including more than 70 national space agencies and several international agencies.

Launch capability

This group of agencies have developed or are developing launch infrastructure including space launch sites, suborbital launch technology, orbital launch systems, and reusable hardware technologies.

Extraterrestrial exploration capability

This group of agencies have developed advanced technological capabilities required for travel and study of other heavenly bodies within the Solar System. These involve the capacity to leave the local area around the planet Earth for lunar and/or missions to other bodies in the Solar System.

Without launch capabilities

This category is formed by agencies that operate and construct satellites in extraterrestrial environments, but do not have the capability to transport those satellites to the desired orbit/trajectory/landing spot. As far as we know as of the 10th May 2024, five space agencies have achieved the requirements to be listed here:

Human spaceflight capability

This small group of countries/space agencies have demonstrated the highest technological capacity with systems and solutions that support human spaceflight along with the ancillary technological capabilities to support human activity in orbit and/or on extraterrestrial bodies. The missions identified (and personnel when appropriate) are the first successful accomplishments of each activity.

Proposed agencies

* Albanian Space Office (ASO), proposed in 2020, at progress stage.
* Armenian Space Agency (ArmCosmos), proposed in 2013 with the goal to launch satellites, currently negotiating with the International Telecommunication Union to clear the path for its prospective launch.
* Bhutan Space Office (BSO), proposed in 2016, at progress stage.
* Botswana Aeronautics and Space Agency (BotswanaSpace), proposed in 2020, at progress stage.
* Cambodian Aeronautics and Space Office (CASO), proposed in 2016, at progress stage.
* Croatian Space Agency (CROSA), proposed in 2020, currently operates as NGO Adriatic Aerospace Association (A3), at progress stage.
* Djibouti National Space Office (DNSO), announced in 2022, at bill stage.
* Guatemala Space Agency, proposed in 2019, at progress stage.
* Honduras Space Agency (AEH), proposed in 2018, at progress stage.
* Iraqi National Aeronautics and Space Office (INASO), proposed in 2019, at progress stage.
* Lao Aeronautics and Space Agency (LaoSpace), proposed in 2015, at progress stage.
* Latvia Space Office (LSO), proposed in 2020, at progress stage.
* Malta Space Office (MSO), proposed in 2022, at progress stage.
* Moldova National Space Office, proposed in 2018, at progress stage.
* Monaco Space Agency, proposed in 2020, at progress stage.
* Montenegrin National Bureau of Space, announced in 2022, bill stage.
* Myanmar Aeronautics and Space Agency (MASA), proposed in 2019, at progress stage.
* Nepal Aeronautics and Space Office (NepalSpace), proposed in 2018, at progress stage.
* Nicaraguan Space Agency (AEN), announced in 2021, bill stage.
* Oman Space Agency (OSA), proposed in 2020, at progress stage.
* Panama Space Agency (AEP), proposed in 2014, at progress stage.
* Serbian Space Office (SerbSpace), proposed in 2016, at progress stage.
* Slovenian National Bureau of Space, proposed in 2019, at progress stage.
* Sri Lanka Aeronautics and Space Agency (SLASA), proposed in 2009. Immediate goal was to construct and launch two satellites. Sri Lankan Telecommunications Regulatory Commission had signed an agreement with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd to get the relevant help and resources.
* Sudan Space Agency, proposed in 2017, at progress stage.
* Tanzanian National Space Agency (TNSA), proposed in 2021, at progress stage.
* Uruguayan Space Agency (AEU), Announced in 2021, bill stage.

Budgets

The annual budgets listed are the official budgets of national space agencies available in public domain. For European contributors to ESA, the national budgets shown include also their contributions to ESA.

See also

* Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
* Lists of astronomical objects
* SEDS
* Lists of spacecraft
* Lists of astronauts
* Lists of space scientists

Notes

References

External links

Space Law Blog







List of space agencies in Africa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Space Agencies
Lists of government agencies
Spaceflight

Government