List of first satellites by country

As of 16 December 2025, over eighty countries have operated artificial satellites.

	Denotes international organisations
	Denotes countries formerly part of another country which already had a spacecraft in orbit
	Denotes countries with disputed sovereignty or recognition and autonomous dependent territories

Country	Satellite	Operator	Manufacturer	Carrier rocket [1]	Launch site [1]	Date (UTC) [1]	Remarks
Soviet Union	Sputnik 1 [2]	OKB-1	OKB-1	Sputnik 8K71PS	Baikonur	4 October 1957	First satellite launched
United States	Explorer 1 [3]	ABMA	JPL	Juno I RS-29	Cape Canaveral	1 February 1958
United Kingdom	Ariel 1 [4]	RAE	NASA / SERC	Thor DM-19 Delta	Cape Canaveral	26 April 1962
Canada	Alouette 1 [5]	DRDC	DRDC	Thor DM-21 Agena-B	Vandenberg	29 September 1962
Italy	San Marco 1 [6]	CNR	CRA [6]	Scout X-4	Wallops	15 December 1964
France	Astérix [7]	CNES	CNES	Diamant A	Hammaguir	26 November 1965
Australia	WRESAT [8]	WRE	WRE	Sparta	Woomera	29 November 1967
10 European countries Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Netherlands Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom	ESRO 2B [9]	ESRO	Hawker Siddeley [9]	Scout B	Vandenberg	17 May 1968 [10]
West Germany	Azur [11]	DLR	DLR / NASA	Scout B	Vandenberg	8 November 1969
Japan	Ohsumi [12]	ISAS	ISAS	Lambda-4S	Kagoshima	11 February 1970
People's Republic of China	Dongfanghong I [13]	CAST	CAST	Chang Zheng 1	Jiuquan	24 April 1970
Netherlands	ANS [14]	SRON  / NASA	Philips	Scout D-1	Vandenberg	30 August 1974
Spain	Intasat [14]	INTA	Standard Electrica	Delta 2310	Vandenberg	15 November 1974
India	Aryabhata [14]	ISRO	ISRO	Kosmos-3M	Kapustin Yar	19 April 1975
Indonesia	Palapa A1 [14]	Perumtel	Hughes	Delta 2914	Cape Canaveral	8 July 1976
Czechoslovakia	Magion 1 [14]	IAP	IG	Kosmos-3M	Plesetsk	24 October 1978
Bulgaria	Bulgaria 1300 [14]	BSA	Bulgarian Academy of Sciences	Vostok-2M	Plesetsk	7 August 1981
Saudi Arabia	Arabsat-1A	Arabsat	Aérospatiale	Ariane 3	Kourou	8 February 1985
Brazil	Brasilsat A1 [14]	Embratel	Hughes
Mexico	Morelos 1 [14]	SCT	Hughes	Space Shuttle Discovery	Kennedy	17 June 1985	Deployed using PAM-D during STS-51-G
Sweden	Viking	SSC	Boeing/ Saab	Ariane 1	Kourou	22 February 1986
Israel	Ofek-1		IAI	Shavit	Palmachim	19 September 1988
Luxembourg	Astra 1A	SES Astra	GE Astrospace	Ariane 44LP	Kourou	11 December 1988
Argentina	Lusat	AMSAT Argentina		Ariane 40	Kourou	22 January 1990
Hong Kong	AsiaSat 1	AsiaSat	Hughes	Chang Zheng 3	Xichang	7 April 1990	Hong Kong, a British Overseas Territory, became part of the People's Republic of China in July 1997
Pakistan	Badr-1	SUPARCO	SUPARCO	Chang Zheng 2E	Xichang	16 July 1990
Russia	Kosmos 2175			Soyuz-U	Plesetsk	21 January 1992	Successor state to the Soviet Union
South Korea	Kitsat-1	KAIST	SSTL	Ariane 42P	Kourou	10 August 1992
Portugal	PoSAT-1	PoSAT	SSTL	Ariane 40	Kourou	26 September 1993
Thailand	Thaicom-1	Shin Satellite	Hughes	Ariane 44L	Kourou	18 December 1993
Turkey	Turksat 1B	Türksat	Aérospatiale	Ariane 44LP	Kourou	10 August 1994
Czech Republic	Magion 4	IAP	IAP	Molniya-M	Plesetsk	2 August 1995	Formerly part of Czechoslovakia
Ukraine	Sich-1			Tsyklon-3	Plesetsk	31 August 1995	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
Chile	FASat-Alfa		SSTL				Failed to separate
Malaysia	MEASAT-1	MEASAT	Hughes	Ariane 44L	Kourou	13 January 1996
Norway	Thor 2	Telenor	Hughes	Delta II 7925	Cape Canaveral	20 May 1997
Philippines	Mabuhay (Agila 1) (former Palapa B2P)	Mabuhay		Delta-3920	Cape Canaveral	20 March 1987	Originally operated and launched for Indonesian company PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara. Acquired while on orbit by Mabuhay in 1996 making it the first Philippine owned satellite.
	Mabuhay 1 (Agila 2)		SS/Loral	Chang Zheng 3B	Xichang	19 August 1997	First Philippine satellite to be launched from space
Egypt	Nilesat 101	Nilesat	Astrium	Ariane 44P	Kourou	28 April 1998
Singapore   Taiwan	ST-1	SingTel Chunghwa	Astrium	Ariane 44P	Kourou	25 August 1998
Taiwan	Formosat-1	NSPO	TRW	Athena I	Cape Canaveral	27 January 1999
South Africa	SUNSAT	Stellenbosch	Stellenbosch	Delta II 7920	Vandenberg	23 February 1999	Launched on same rocket as first Danish satellite
Denmark	Ørsted	DMI [15]	CRI [15]				Launched on same rocket as first South African satellite
Georgia [16]	Reflektor	Energia-GPI Space	Energia-GPI Space	Soyuz-U	Baikonur Site 1/5	17 July 1999	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
United Arab Emirates	Thuraya 1	Thuraya	Boeing	Zenit-3SL	Odyssey	21 October 2000
Belgium	PROBA-1	ESA	Verhaert Space	Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle	Satish Dhawan	22 October 2001
Morocco	Maroc-Tubsat		TU Berlin	Zenit-2	Baikonur	10 December 2001
Tonga	Esiafi 1 (formerly Comstar D4)	TONGASAT	SS/Loral	Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR	Cape Canaveral	21 February 1981	A private American satellite that transferred ownership to Tonga in April 2002
Algeria	AlSAT-1		SSTL	Kosmos-3M	Plesetsk	28 November 2002
Greece	Hellas-Sat 2	Hellas-Sat	Astrium	Atlas V 401	Cape Canaveral	13 May 2003
Nigeria	NigeriaSat-1		SSTL	Kosmos-3M	Plesetsk	27 September 2003
Iran	Sina-1		NPO Polyot	Kosmos-3M	Plesetsk	27 October 2005
Kazakhstan	KazSat-1		Khrunichev	Proton-M/DM3	Baikonur	17 June 2006	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
Colombia	Libertad-1			Dnepr	Baikonur	17 April 2007
Mauritius	Rascom-QAF 1	Rascom	Alcatel	Ariane 5GS	Kourou	21 December 2007
Vietnam	Vinasat-1	Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group	Lockheed Martin	Ariane 5ECA	Kourou	18 April 2008
Venezuela	Venesat-1		CAST	Chang Zheng 3B/E	Xichang	29 October 2008
Afghanistan	Eutelsat 48D / Afghansat 1	Afghanistan Ministry of Communications and Information	EADS Astrium	Ariane 5ECA	Kourou	20 December 2008	Satellite leased to the Afghanistan Ministry of Communications and Information in January 2014
Switzerland	SwissCube-1			PSLV-CA	Satish Dhawan	23 September 2009
Singapore	X-Sat		SATREC	PSLV-C	Satish Dhawan	20 April 2011
Isle of Man	ViaSat-1	ViaSat-IOM, ManSat, Telesat-IOM	SS/Loral	Proton-M/Briz-M	Baikonur	19 October 2011	Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency of the British sovereign
Hungary	MaSat-1 [17]		BME	Vega	Kourou	13 February 2012
Poland	PW-Sat [17]	Warsaw University of Technology, Space Research Centre					Deorbit on 28 October 2014
Romania	Goliat [17]
Belarus	BelKA-2 [18] [19]			Soyuz-FG/Fregat	Baikonur	22 July 2012
North Korea	Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 [20]	KCST		Unha-3	Sohae	12 December 2012	Failed to operate in orbit
Azerbaijan	Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a [21]	Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azercosmos)	Orbital Sciences	Ariane 5ECA	Kourou	7 February 2013	Independent since 1991
Austria	TUGSAT-1/UniBRITE [22]		UTAIS	PSLV-CA	Satish Dhawan	25 February 2013	Austria's first two satellites were launched together
Bermuda	Bermudasat 1 (former EchoStar VI)	Bermudasat	SS/Loral	Atlas IIAS	Cape Canaveral	14 July 2000	Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory; Bermudasat 1 (former private American EchoStar VI) satellite was transferred in April 2013 to Bermuda being at orbit
Ecuador	NEE-01 Pegaso [23]	EXA	EXA	Chang Zheng 2D	Jiuquan	26 April 2013
Estonia	ESTCube-1			Vega	Kourou	7 May 2013	Estonia was formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Jersey	O3b-1/O3b-2/O3b-3/O3b-4	O3b Networks	Thales Alenia Space	Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT	Kourou	25 June 2013	Jersey's first four satellites were launched together. Jersey is a Crown Dependency of the British sovereign
France   Qatar	Eutelsat 25B / Es'hail 1	Eutelsat Es'hailSat	SS/Loral	Ariane 5ECA	Kourou	29 August 2013	Qatar's first satellite flew as a joint project with the French corporation Eutelsat
Qatar	Es'hail 1	Es'hailSat	SS/Loral	Ariane 5ECA	Kourou	29 August 2013	Full ownership of the joint France-Qatar satellite Eutelsat 25B / Es'hail 1 was sold to Es'hailsat in 2018 [24]
Peru	PUCP-Sat 1			Dnepr	Dombarovsky	21 November 2013
	Pocket-PUCP
Bolivia	Túpac Katari 1		CAST	Chang Zheng 3B/E	Xichang	20 December 2013
Lithuania	LitSat-1/Lituanica SAT-1			Antares 120	MARS LP-0A	9 January 2014	The first two Lithuanian satellites were launched together; both carried to the International Space Station and deployed later in the year. Lithuania was formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Iraq	Tigrisat	MOST  / La Sapienza	La Sapienza	Dnepr	Dombarovsky	19 June 2014
Uruguay	ANTELSAT	ANTEL	UdelaR
Turkmenistan	TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSAT	TNSA	Alcatel	Falcon 9	Cape Canaveral	27 April 2015	Formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Laos	Laosat-1	Laos National Authority for Science and Technology	CAST	Chang Zheng 3B/E	Xichang	20 November 2015
Finland	Aalto-2	Aalto University	Aalto University	Atlas V 401	Cape Canaveral	18 April 2017
Bangladesh	BRAC ONNESHA	BRACU	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Falcon 9 Full Thrust	Kennedy	3 June 2017	Launched on same rocket as first Ghanaian and Mongolian satellites
Ghana	GhanaSat-1	All Nations University					Launched on same rocket as first Bangladeshi and Mongolian satellites
Mongolia	Mazaalai (satellite)	National University of Mongolia					Launched on same rocket as first Ghanaian and Bangladeshi satellites
Latvia	Venta 1	Ventspils University College	Ventspils University College	PSLV-CA	Satish Dhawan	23 June 2017	Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Launched on same rocket as first Slovakian satellite
Slovakia	skCUBE	SOSA	SOSA				Formerly part of Czechoslovakia, Launched on same rocket as first Latvian satellite
Angola	AngoSat 1	AngoSat	RSC Energia	Zenit-3F / Fregat-SB	Baikonur	26 December 2017	Launch was successful but contact was lost quickly afterwards. [25] On 28 December 2017, communication was restored and telemetry was received. [26]
New Zealand	Humanity Star	Rocket Lab	Rocket Lab	Electron	Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1	21 January 2018	First satellite launched by New Zealand launcher.
Costa Rica	Proyecto Irazú	Costa Rica Institute of Technology	Costa Rica Institute of Technology	Falcon 9	Cape Canaveral	2 April 2018	First satellite of Central America. Manufactured in Costa Rica. [27]
Kenya	1KUNS-PF	University of Nairobi	University of Nairobi				Launched on same rocket as first Costa Rican satellite.
Bhutan	Bhutan 1	Bhutanese students under Kyutech-led second Joint Global Multination Birds Project (Birds-2)	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Falcon 9 Full Thrust	Cape Canaveral	29 June 2018
Jordan	JY1-SAT	Jordanian students under the Crown Prince Foundation		Falcon 9 Full Thrust	Vandenberg	3 December 2018
Nepal	NepaliSat-1	NAST for Nepal Academy of Science and Technology	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Antares 230	MARS LP0A	17 April 2019
Sri Lanka	Raavana 1	Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies	Kyushu Institute of Technology
Rwanda	RWASAT-1	Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority	Rwandan engineers with support from the University of Tokyo	H-IIB	Tanegashima Space Center Yoshinobu Launch Complex	24 September 2019	Decay from orbit 27 April 2022
Sudan	Sudan Remote Sensing Satellite 1 (SRSS-1)	Sudan	ISRA	Long March 4B	Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre LC-9	3 November 2019
Ethiopia	Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite 1 (ETRSS-1)	Ethiopia	Ethiopia Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute	Long March 4B	Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre	20 December 2019
Guatemala	Quetzal-1	Universidad del Valle de Guatemala	Guatemala Students from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala	Falcon 9	Cape Canaveral SLC-40	7 March 2020
Slovenia	TRISAT	University of Maribor	University of Maribor	Vega	Kourou	3 September 2020	Launched on same rocket as first Monégasque satellite.
	NEMO-HD	Space-SI	UTIAS / Space-SI
Monaco	OSM-1 Cicero	Orbital Solutions Monaco	Orbital Solutions Monaco				Launched on same rocket as first two Slovenian satellites.
Paraguay	GuaraniSat-1	Paraguayan Space Agency and Kyutech-led fourth Joint Global Multination Birds Project	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Antares 230	MARS LP0A	20 February 2021	Launched on same rocket as first Myanma satellite.
Myanmar	Lawkanat-1 [28]	Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University	Hokkaido University / Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University				Launched on same rocket as first Paraguayan satellite.
Tunisia	Challenge-1	Telnet Tunisie	Telnet Tunisie	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat	Baikonur Site 31/6	22 March 2021
Kuwait	QMR-KWT	Orbital Space Kuwait	Orbital Space Kuwait	Falcon 9	CCSFS SLC-40	30 June 2021
Bahrain   United Arab Emirates	Light-1	New York University Abu Dhabi	Engineers from Bahrain's space agency, NSSA, in collaboration with Khalifa University	Falcon 9	CCSFS	21 December 2021	Bahrain's first satellite flew as a joint project with the UAE Space Agency
Armenia Spain	ARMSAT_1	Satlantis / Geocosmos	Satlantis	Falcon 9	Cape Canaveral SLC-40	25 May 2022	Joint satellite between Satlantis and Geocosmos
Moldova	TUMnanoSAT	Technical University of Moldova	Technical University of Moldova	Falcon 9	Kennedy LC-39A	15 July 2022	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
Uganda	PearlAfricaSat-1	Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Antares	MARS LP-0A	7 November 2022	Launched on the same rocket as the first Zimbabwean satellite
Zimbabwe	ZIMSAT-1	Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency	Kyushu Institute of Technology				Launched on the same rocket as the first Ugandan satellite
Albania	Albania-1	State Authority for Geospatial Information	Satellogic	Falcon 9	Cape Canaveral SLC-40	3 January 2023	First Albanian satellites, launched as a pair
	Albania-2
Macau	Macao Science-1A	Macau University of Science and Technology	Macau University of Science and Technology	Long March 2C	Jiuquan LA-4	21 May 2023	First Macanese satellites, launched as a pair
	Macao Science-1B
Vatican City Italy	SpeiSat	Dicastery for Communication/ASI	ASI	Falcon 9	Vandenberg SLC-4E	12 June 2023	Joint satellite between the Italian Space Agency and the Vatican Dicastery for Communication
Oman	AMAN-1	ETCO	SatRev	Falcon 9	Vandenberg SLC-4E	11 November 2023	Launched on the same rocket as the first Djiboutian satellite
Djibouti	Djibouti-1A	University of Djibouti	University of Montpellier				Launched on the same rocket as the first Omani satellite
Armenia	Hayasat-1	Bazoomq Space Research Laboratory	Bazoomq Space Research Laboratory, Center of Scientific Innovation and Education	Falcon 9	Vandenberg SLC-4E	1 December 2023	Formerly part of the Soviet Union. Launched on the same rocket as the first Irish satellite
Ireland	EIRSAT-1	University College Dublin	University College Dublin				Launched on the same rocket as the first Armenian satellite
Senegal	GAINDESAT-1A  ( fr )	SenSat	University of Montpellier	Falcon 9	Vandenberg SLC-4E	16 August 2024
Croatia	CroCube	Društvo EVO	EVO/ Spacemanic [29]	Falcon 9	Vandenberg SLC-4E	21 December 2024
Botswana	BOTSAT-1	Botswana International University of Science and Technology	EnduroSat	Falcon 9	Vandenberg SLC-4E	15 March 2025

Suborbital only

In addition, some countries have only attained a suborbital spaceflight, and have yet to launch a satellite into orbit.

Country	Payload	Carrier rocket	Launch site	Date (UTC)
Lebanon [30]	ARZ-3	Cedar-3	Dbayeh	21 November 1962
Yemen [31]	Warhead	Burkan-2	Sa'dah	4 November 2017
Sealand [32]	Postcard	New Shepard	Corn Ranch, Launch Site One	13 October 2020 13:36
British Antarctic Territory [33]	Postcard	New Shepard	Corn Ranch, Launch Site One	14 January 2021 16:57

See also

• Timeline of first orbital launches by country
• Timeline of spaceflight

References

1. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
2. Zak, Anatoly. "Sputnik's Mission". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
3. "Explorer 1". Milestones of Flight. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
4. "Timeline: 1960s". Space Research: 50 Years and Beyond. University of Leicester. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
5. "Alouette I and II". Canadian Space Agency. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
6. Russo, Arturo (2002). The Century of Space Science. Vol. 1. Springer. p. 52. ISBN   0-7923-7196-8.
7. Kramer, Herbert J. (2002). Observation of the Earth and Its Environment: Survey of Missions and Sensors. Springer. p. 160. ISBN   3-5404-2388-5.
8. Williamson, Mark (2006). Spacecraft Technology: The Early Years. Institution of Engineering and Technology. p. 85. ISBN   978-0-86341-553-1.
9. "ESA Achievements" (PDF). European Space Agency. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
10. "ELDO/ESRO/ESA: Key Dates 1960-2013". European Space Agency. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
11. "When did the first German satellite go into space?". DLR. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
12. "Ohsumi". Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
13. Long, Wei (25 April 2000). "China Celebrates 30th Anniversary Of First Satellite Launch". Space Daily. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
14. "First Time in History". The Satellite Encyclopedia. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
15. Ørsteds Resultater [Results of the Ørsted satellite](PDF) (Technical report) (in Danish). Copenhagen: Danish Meteorological Institute. 1 March 2002. ISSN   0906-897X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
16. "Reflektor".
17. "Central and Eastern Europe Make History with Small Satellites". European Space Agency. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
18. Krebs, Gunter. "BKA (BelKa 2)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
19. "Belarus' first satellite enters orbit". Xinhua. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
20. Fisher, Max (12 December 2012). "Real-time satellite tracker shows precise location of North Korea's new satellite". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
21. Agayev, Zulfugar (8 February 2013). "First Azeri Satellite Launched, Two More Planned in 2015-2016". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
22. "AUSTRIAN SATELLITES: BRITE-AUSTRIA & UniBRITE". BRITE-Constellation. Universität Wien. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
23. Barbosa, Rui C. (26 April 2013). "China back in action with Long March 2D launch of Gaofen-1". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
24. "Es'hailSat Makes Deal with Eutelsat to Fully Own Satellite - Via Satellite -". Via Satellite. 10 August 2018.
25. Krebs, Gunter. "AngoSat 1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
26. "Источник: со спутником "Ангосат" восстановлена связь". ТАСС.
27. "Costa Rica Launches Its First Satellite Into Space with SpaceX". The Costa Rica Star. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
28. "Lawkanat 1, 2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
29. "CroCube – Spacemanic".
30. "Cedre 3". astronautix. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
31. "Burkan 2H". astronautix. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
32. "Sealand stamps blasted into space". 13 November 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
33. "NEW SHEPARD MISSION NS-14 CARRIES MORE THAN 50,000 POSTCARDS TO SPACE FROM 13 COUNTRIES". 14 January 2021. British research station in Antarctica