Government space agencies are bodies established by national governments, or by regional agencies representing groups of countries, to advocate for and engage in activities relating to outer space, including the operation of space systems, and space exploration.
Their objectives include the use of remote sensing data, communications, education, and economic development. Most agencies are civil rather than military bodies, established to advance the benefits of exploring and using space. They range from small agencies with limited budgets to large national or regional organizations 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 State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos" (Roscosmos) of Russia, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the China National Space Administration (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. +Overview of space agencies Space agency Demonstrated capability Country ororganization Name Acronym Founded First space traveler Operates satellites Builds satellites Recoverable payloads capable African Space Agency AfSA Algerian Space Agency ASAL (Alcomsat-1) (AlSAT-1) National Space Activities Commission CONAE (CNIE) (CONAE) (Nahuel 1A) (ARSAT-1) Australian Space Agency ASA 1986 (NSP) (ASA) (Paul Scully-Power) (Aussat A1) (WRESAT) Austrian Space Agency ALR (Franz Viehböck) (TUGSAT-1/UniBRITE-1) (TUGSAT-1/UniBRITE-1) Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azercosmos) Azercosmos (Tuva Cihangir Atasever) (Azerspace-1) (Azersky-2) Bahrain Space Agency BSA 2014 AlMunther AlMunther Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization SPARRSO (Bangladesh Satellite-1) (BRAC Onnesha) Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy BIRAIASBBISA (Dirk Frimout) (PROBA-1) Brazilian Space Agency AEB (Marcos Pontes) (Brasilsat A1) (Amazônia-1) Space Research and Technology InstituteSpace research in Bulgaria is coordinated by the Inter-Department Commission for Space Research (Bulgarian: Междуведомствена комисия по космически изследвания) which is composed of the deputy ministers of several ministries and representatives of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences SRI-BASSTIL-BAS (Georgi Ivanov) (Bulgaria 1300) (Bulgaria 1300) Canadian Space Agency CSAASC (Marc Garneau) (Alouette 1) (Alouette 1) Chilean Space Agency CSA 2001 China National Space Administration CNSA (Yang Liwei) (Dong Fang Hong 1) Costa Rican Space Agency (Agencia Espacial Costarricense) AEC (Irazú) (Irazú) Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems CCSDS Committee on Space ResearchCommittee headquartered in France, within the International Council for Science (ICSU ). COSPAR Department of Space Activities at the Ministry of Transport (Czech Republic) MoT (Vladimír Remek) (Magion 4) (VZLUSAT-2) Danish National Space Center DNSCDTU Space (DSRI) (DNSC) (Andreas Mogensen) (Ørsted) (Ørsted) Egyptian Space Agency EGSANARSSEASRT-RSC 201819941971–1994 (Sara Sabry) (EgyptSat 1) (NARSSCube-1) Instituto Aeroespacial de El Salvador(Esai) ESAI Ethiopian Space Science and Technology InstituteESSTI ETRSS-1 ETRSS-1 European Space Agency ESAASEEWO 1964 (ESRO/ELDO) (ESA) (Ulf Merbold) (Cos-B) (Cos-B) European Union Agency for the Space Programme EUSPA (GSA) (EUSPA) National Centre for Space Studies CNES (Jean-Loup Chrétien) (Astérix) (Astérix) German Aerospace Center DLR (Sigmund Jähn) (Azur) Ghana Space Science and Technology CentreGSSTI (GhanaSat-1) (GhanaSat-1) Hellenic Space Center HSCΕΛΚΕΔ (Hellas Sat 2) (UPSat) Hungarian Space Office MŰIHSO (Bertalan Farkas) (MaSat-1) (MaSat-1) Indian Space Research Organisation ISROइसरो 1962 (INCOSPAR)15 August 1969 (ISRO) (Rakesh Sharma) (Aryabhata) (Aryabhata) Indonesian Space Agency(Previously LAPAN) INASA (LAPAN) (Palapa-A1) (Lapan-TUBsat) Iranian Space Agency ISA 1996 (Sina-1) (Omid) (Pishgam) Israel Space Agency ISA (Ilan Ramon) (Ofeq-1) (Shavit 2) Italian Space AgencyASI official site ASI official site ASI (Franco Malerba) (San Marco 1) (San Marco 1) Japan Aerospace Exploration AgencyJAXA (Toyohiro Akiyama) (Ohsumi) (Ohsumi) National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan KazCosmosKazKosmos (Toktar Aubakirov) (KazSat-1) (Al Farabi-1) Kenya Space AgencyKSA (1KUNS-PF) (1KUNS-PF) National Aerospace Technology Administration NATA 1980s (KCST) 2013 (NADA) 2023 (NATA) (Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2) (Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2) Korea AeroSpace AdministrationKASA Korea Aerospace Research Institute KARI (Yi So-yeon) (Koreasat 1) (KITSAT-1) CELAC Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency ALCE Lithuanian Space Association LSA (LituanicaSAT-1) (LituanicaSAT-1) Luxembourg Space AgencyLuxembourg establishes space agency and new fund, SpaceNews, 13 September 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2019. LSA (Astra 1A) (KSM (Kleos Scouting Mission)) Malaysian Space Agency MYSA (Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor) (MEASAT-1) (TiungSAT-1) Mexican Space AgencyLanzamiento de primer nanosatélite en Hidalgo, "Nanoconect 1", muestra de la innovación del fondo. (in Spanish). AEM. Published 11 December 2017. AEM (Rodolfo Vela) (Morelos I) (UNAMSAT B) National Remote Sensing Center of Mongolia NRSC (Gurragchaa Jugderdemid) (Mazaalai) (Mazaalai) Royal Center for Remote Sensing () CRTS (Maroc-Tubsat) (Maroc-Tubsat) Netherlands Institute for Space Research SRON (Wubbo Ockels) (ANS) (ANS) New Zealand Space Agency NZSA (Humanity Star) (Humanity Star) National Space Research and Development Agency NASRDA (Nigeriasat-1) (Nigeria EduSat-1) Norwegian Space Agency NRSNSC (Thor 2) (nCube-2) Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission SUPARCOسپارکو (started working from 1964) (Namira Salim) (Badr-1) (Badr-1) Paraguayan Space Agency (Agencia Espacial de Paraguay) AEP (GuaraníSat-1) (GuaraníSat-1) National Commission for Aerospace Research and Development CONIDA (Chasqui I) Philippine Space Agency PhilSA (DOST–ASTI) (PhilSA) (Agila-1) (Diwata-1) Polish Space Agency POLSA (CBK PAN) (POLSA) (Mirosław Hermaszewski) (Lem) (Lem) Portuguese Space Agency PTSPACE (PoSAT-1) (PoSAT-1) Romanian Space Agency ASRROSA (Dumitru Prunariu) (Goliat) (Goliat) Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities Roscosmos (Aleksandr Volkov) (Kosmos 2175) (Kosmos 2175) (Soyuz TM-14) Rwanda Space Agency RSA (RWASAT-1) (RWASAT-1) Saudi Space Agency SSA (KACST-SRI) (SSC/SSA) (Sultan Bin Salman) (Arabsat-1A) (SaudiSat-4) National Space Agency of Singapore NSAS 1 Apr 2026 South African National Space Agency SANSA (Mark Shuttleworth) (SUNSAT) (SUNSAT) † Soviet space program СССР 1955disbanded 25 Dec 1991 (Yuri Gagarin) (Sputnik 1) (Sputnik 1) (Korabl-Sputnik 2) Agencia Espacial EspañolaProgramas de Alta Tecnología de Nanosatélites , Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial AEE (Pedro Duque) (Hispasat 1A) (Intasat) Swedish National Space Agency SNSA (Christer Fuglesang) (Viking) Swiss Space Office SSO Claude Nicollier (SwissCube-1) (SwissCube-1) Syrian Space AgencyOhlheiser, A. (18 March 2014). Syria Creates a Space Agency in the Middle of its Civil War. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/03/syria-creates-space-agency-middle-its-civil-war/359308/Sheldon, J. (13 December 2018). Syria Seeks To Build Satellite, Establish A Space Programme. Retrieved from https://spacewatch.global/2018/12/syria-seeks-to-build-satellite-establish-a-space-programme/ SSA (Muhammed Faris) Taiwan Space AgencyPreviously named National Space Program Organisation, until 1 April 2005 – TASA (ST-1) (Formosat-1) Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency GISTDAสทอภ (Thaicom 1) (KNACKSAT) (Arabic: المركز الوطني للإستشعار عن بعد)(National Remote Sensing Center of Tunisia) CNCT (Challenge-1) (Challenge-1) Turkish Space Agency(Türkiye Uzay Ajansı) TUA (TÜBİTAK UZAY) (TUA) (Alper Gezeravcı) (Türksat 1A) (Göktürk-2) Turkmenistan National Space Agency TNSA (Oleg Kononenko) (TürkmenÄlem52E / MonacoSAT) State Space Agency of Ukraine SSAU (Leonid Kadenyuk) (Sich-1) United Arab Emirates Space Agency UAESA (Hazza Al Mansouri) (Thuraya 2) (KhalifaSat) UK Space Agency UKSA (Helen Sharman) (Ariel 1) (Prospero) United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space UNCOPUOS — — — — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs UNOOSA — — — — National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (Alan Shepard) (Explorer 1) (Explorer 1) (Discoverer 13) The Space Research and Technology Agency under the Ministry ofDigital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan Uzcosmos (Samarkand 2028) Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities ABAE (Venesat-1) Vietnam National Space Center TTVTVN or VNSCVAST-VNSC (Phạm Tuân) (Vinasat-1) (F-1) Subnational Space Agencies Country Subdivision Name Founded First space traveler Operates satellites Builds satellites Recoverable payloads capable California Space Authority1996 (CSTA) 2001 (CSA) disbanded Space Florida (FSA) (Space Florida) New Mexico Spaceport Authority Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority Virginia Spaceport Authority KeralaK-Space Trivandrum
Launch capability This group of agencies have developed or are developing launch infrastructure including space launch sites, suborbital launch technology, orbital launch systems, cryogenic rocket technologies and reusable hardware technologies. + Overview of space agency launch capabilities Agency Demonstrated capability Operates launch site Suborbital launch capable Orbital launch capable Cryogenic rocket engine use Reusable systems use CONAE (Punta Indio) (Orión) ASA (Woomera) (Long Tom) AEB Brazil's Atlantic Spaceports SpaceToday. Retrieved 1 March 2011.(Alcântara) (VSB-30) (L-75) CSA CNSA (Jiuquan) (Long March 1) (YF-73) ESA (Kourou) (Ariane 1) CNES (Kourou) (Véronique) (Diamant A) ISRO (Sriharikota) (RH-75) (SLV) (CE-20) (CE-7.5) Iranian Space Agency (Semnan) (Safir) (Safir) (Bahman engine) Israel Space Agency (Palmachim Airbase) (Shavit 2) (Shavit 2) ASIASI official missions history (Salto di Quirra) JAXA (Uchinoura) (Lambda-4S) (LE-7) NATA (Sohae) (Unha-3) (27 May 2024) KARI (Naro) (Nuri) MSA NZSA SUPARCO (Sonmiani Flight Test Range) (Rehbar-I) POLSA Roscosmos (Plesetsk) (Soyuz-U) Soviet space program † (Baikonur) (GIRD-09) (R-7 Sputnik) (KVD-1) SNSA (Esrange) (Maser) SSAU (Dnepr) UKSA NASA (Cape Canaveral) (WAC Corporal) (Juno I) (RL10) (Space Shuttle)
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.