Overview of state-sponsored programs for flight beyond Earth
"The Space Program" redirects here. For the song by A Tribe Called Quest, see The Space Program (song).
See also: List of private spaceflight companies; List of space forces, units, and formations; and Lists of space organizations
Part of a series on
Spaceflight
History
History of spaceflight
Space Race
Timeline of spaceflight
Space probes
Lunar missions
Mars missions
Applications
Communications
Earth observation
Exploration
Espionage
Military
Navigation
Settlement
Telescopes
Tourism
Spacecraft
Robotic spacecraft
Satellite
Space probe
Cargo spacecraft
Crewed spacecraft
Apollo Lunar Module
Space capsules
Space Shuttle
Space stations
Spaceplanes
Vostok
Space launch
Spaceport
Launch pad
Expendable and reusable launch vehicles
Escape velocity
Non-rocket spacelaunch
Spaceflight types
Sub-orbital
Orbital
Interplanetary
Interstellar
Intergalactic
List of space organizations
Space agencies
Space forces
Companies
Spaceflight portal
v
t
e
Government space agencies are established by governments of countries or regional groupings of countries to establish a means for advocating for and/or engaging in activities related to outer space, exploitation of space systems, and space exploration. The listings summarize all countries and regional authorities that have established space agencies. The listings established a comparative summary of demonstrated capabilities across the countries that have invested in the pursuit of space-based objectives.
Government space agency organizations are established with objectives that 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. Government agencies span the spectrum from ancient 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
The four listings identify a technological progression in complexity and capacity that historically aligned to the developments that occurred during the 20th century space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is not intended to offer that this is the only path to advanced space faring status; variations and adaptations are expected and are likely to occur based on the technological capabilities that are available to today as opposed to 50 or more years ago.
For each identified "Demonstrated capability" a reference is included to that program's first demonstration of the technical capacity or capability to meet the defined objective.
The fifth listing identifies countries that are considering or are developing space agency organizations but have not ratified formation or operation as of yet.
Note as well that the demonstrated capabilities represent the national (or regional) capacity to achieve the identified objective. These listings do not attempt to determine which programs were uniquely or solely funded by the space agency itself.
For each listing, the short name or acronym identified is the English version, with the native language version below. The date of the founding of the space agency is the date of first operations where applicable. If the space agency is no longer running, then the date when it was terminated. Additionally, the strategic nature of many space programs result in cooperation between civil agency and military organizations to meet unique staff and technical proficiencies required to support space programs given the geographic expanse required to ensure successful operation.
and 30 Related for: List of government space agencies information
Governmentspaceagencies are established by governmentsof countries or regional groupings of countries to establish a means for advocating for and/or...
operate the decentralized space program of the Philippine government, which was handled by various agenciesof the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)...
of governmentspaceagenciesListof Arab astronauts Axiom Mission 2 Obeid, Ghinwa (14 June 2023). "Saudi Space Commission elevated to Saudi Space Agency...
Amiri Listofgovernmentspaceagencies "Objectives | UAE SpaceAgency". www.space.gov.ae. Retrieved 27 May 2015. Call for pan-Arab spaceagency, The National...
European SpaceAgency). The leader of the agency is titled the Head. Australia portal Spaceflight portal Listofgovernmentspaceagencies Woomera Rocket...
being one of 15 key programmes within the agenda. History ofspace in Africa African Union Listofgovernmentspaceagencies "Signature of the Host Agreement...
Freedom of Information Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act. These further cloud attempts to enumerate a listofagencies. The executive branch of the...
The following is a listofagencies in the governmentof Nigeria. Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN)[1] National Agricultural Extension, Research...
romanized: Derzhavne kosmichne ahentstvo Ukrainy, ДКАУ) is the Ukrainian governmentagency responsible for space policy and programs. Along with the Ukrainian Defense Industry...
remote education, and satellite broadband.: 303 Listofgovernmentspaceagencies National Space Program (Algeria) "Mission". ASAL (in French). Archived...
extraterrestrial missions and operate a large fleet of artificial satellites. ISRO is one of the four governmentspaceagencies to have soft landing (unmanned) capabilities...
facilities are rundown. Despite this, the spaceagency is one of the most advanced spaceagencies in Africa, boasting of four satellites and very grand ambitions...
be controlled by a state-run Turkmenistan National SpaceAgency. Listofgovernmentspaceagencies Spaceflight portal "Президент Туркменистана переименовал...
The Iranian SpaceAgency (ISA, Persian: سازمان فضایی ایران Sāzmān-e Fazāi-ye Irān) is Iran's governmentalspaceagency. The Iranian Space Research Center...
Taiwan SpaceAgency (short as TASA), formerly the National Space Organization from 1991 to 2023, is the national civilian spaceagencyof the Republic of China...
Global Information
Spaceflight portal