As of 26 December 2024, 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 | |
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 [29] | ARZ-3 | Ceadar-3 | Dbayeh | 21 November 1962 |
 Yemen [30] | Warhead | Burkan-2 | Sa'dah | 4 November 2017 |
 Sealand [31] | Postcard |  New Shepard | Corn Ranch, Launch Site One | 13 October 2020 13:36 |
 British Antarctic Territory [32] | Postcard | New Shepard | Corn Ranch, Launch Site One | 14 January 2021 16:57 |
Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), low Earth orbit (LEO) or further into space. The launch vehicle had a streak of 82 consecutive successful launches between 9 April 2003 and 12 December 2017. Since 2014, Ariane 6, a direct successor system, first launched in 2024.
European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS) was the European Space Agency's first Earth-observing satellite programme using a polar orbit. It consisted of two satellites, ERS-1 and ERS-2, with ERS-1 being launched in 1991.
1971 saw the last three known deaths of cosmonauts of the Soviet space program and the only deaths in space. Their mission was to man humanity's first space station. The experimental bay door failed to separate so the first crew failed to dock and second crew were killed on re-entry. 1971 also saw the launch of the first and only British satellite on top of a British rocket after that success the program was cancelled.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
This article outlines notable events occurring in 1995 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.
CryoSat-1, also known as just CryoSat, was a European Space Agency satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 2005. The satellite was launched as part of the European Space Agency's CryoSat mission, which aims to monitor ice in the high latitudes. The second mission satellite, CryoSat-2, was successfully launched in April 2010.
This article compares different orbital launcher families. The article is organized into two tables: the first contains a list of currently active and under-development launcher families, while the second contains a list of retired launcher families.
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2019.
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2018. For the first time since 1990, more than 100 orbital launches were performed globally.
Sapphire is a Canadian space surveillance satellite which was launched in 2013. Sapphire was commissioned and integrated by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) based on an SSTL-150 bus produced by Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) and an optical payload produced by COM DEV International.
Inmarsat-4A F4, also known as Alphasat and Inmarsat-XL, is a large geostationary communications I-4 satellite operated by United Kingdom-based Inmarsat in partnership with the European Space Agency. Launched in 2013, it is used to provide mobile communications to Africa and parts of Europe and Asia.
A small-lift launch vehicle is a rocket orbital launch vehicle that is capable of lifting 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb) or less or under 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). The next larger category consists of medium-lift launch vehicles.
ArgoMoon is a CubeSat that was launched into a heliocentric orbit on Artemis 1, the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, on 16 November 2022 at 06:47:44 UTC. The objective of the ArgoMoon spacecraft is to take detailed images of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage following Orion separation, an operation that will demonstrate the ability of a cubesat to conduct precise proximity maneuvers in deep space. ASI has not confirmed nor denied whether this took place, but several images of the Earth and the Moon were taken.
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2020.
This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2026.
This comparison of retired orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all retired individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. For a list of proposed rocket configurations or individual configurations currently being launched check out Comparison of Orbital Launch Systems.
British research station in Antarctica
