Top 10 Space Agencies
Space is a subject that intrigues the curiosity of every nation in the world; because of this, almost every country is curious to know more about space. Humans have always been fascinated by space research and studies. Due to this, humans have created many space Agencies to know about the secrets of the world of space and science.
In this modern world, just as the game of competition is going on the earth. In the same way, every country is also eager to know everything about space. The majority of nations now have their space agencies and research centers. Today 72 countries have their space Agency. However, only a few space agencies throughout the world are well known. In this article, we will talk about the top 10 space agencies.
1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA is a US-based organization that was established in 1958. And since then till today, it has achieved many great achievements in cosmology. There are no other space agencies better or more popular than NASA in space research. According to a fact, when a survey of people from various countries was conducted to determine which space agencies they are familiar with, it was discovered that NASA is the only space agency that people are aware of.
| Abbreviation | NASA |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 29, 1958 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Type | Space agency Aeronautics research agency |
| Jurisdiction | United States Federal Government |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. 38°52′59″N 77°0′59″W |
| Motto | "Exploring the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all"[2] |
| Administrator | Bill Nelson |
| Deputy Administrator | Pamela Melroy |
| Primary spaceports |
|
| Employees | 17,960 (2022)[3] |
Annual budget | US$24.041 billion (2022)[4] |
| Website | www |
2. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
ISRO is one of the top space agencies in the world. ISRO was established in 1969, even before Russian and China space agencies. So, India had space technology even before countries like China and Russia. The Indian space agency has also discovered water on the moon. In 2008, due to Chandrayaan 1 mission, ISRO proved that water is available on the moon in ice form.
| Abbreviation | ISRO |
|---|---|
| Formed | 15 August 1969 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Type | Space agency |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India 12°57′56″N 77°41′53″E |
| Chairman | Sreedhara Somanath[3] |
| Primary spaceports |
|
| Owner | India |
| Employees | 16,786 (as of 2022)[4] |
| Annual budget | ₹13,700 crore (US$1.7 billion) (2022–23) [5] |
| Website | www |
3. China National Space Administration (CNSA)
| Formed | 22 April 1993 |
|---|---|
| Preceding Government agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | China |
| Headquarters | Haidian, Beijing |
| Annual budget | US$8.9 billion (2020)[1][Note 1] |
| Government agency executive |
|
| Parent department | Ministry of Industry and Information Technology |
| Website | cnsa.gov.cn |
CNSA is one of the most popular and most successful space agencies globally. This administration was established in 1993, thirty-six years after establishing NASA. From 1993 till today, CNSA has done an excellent job exploring space. CNSA has sent many spacecraft and satellites into space.
4. Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA)
RFSA is a Russian space organization. RFSA is popularly known as Roscosmos. Russian Federal Space Agency was established in 1992, one year before China National Space Administration. And since 1993, there has always been competition between Russia and China. Russia is the first country to launch animals into space, and Russia is also the first country that sent the first female astronaut into space, Valentina Tereshkova.
| Abbreviation | Roscosmos |
|---|---|
| Formed | 25 February 1992 (as the Russian Federal Space Agency) |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Type | Space agency |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Russia |
| Headquarters | Moscow 55°47′2″N 37°37′50″E |
| Official language | Russian |
| Administrator | Yury Borisov |
| Primary spaceport |
|
| Owner | Russia |
| Employees | 170,500 (2020) |
| Annual budget | 154 billion₽ (2021)[1] (US$1.92 billion) |
| Website | www.roscosmos.ru |
5. European Space Agency (ESA)
This space agency is a multi-government organization. It was founded in 1975 by a group of 20 European countries. The annual budget of this space agency is $7.43 billion. ESA's headquarter is in Paris. ESA has done many missions or projects, such as the Venus mission, Rosetta mission, Mars mission, Corot space telescope mission, etc.
| Abbreviation |
|
|---|---|
| Formed | 30 May 1975 |
| Type | Space agency |
| Headquarters | Paris, Île-de-France, France 48°50′54″N 02°18′15″E |
| Official language | English and French (working languages) [1][2] |
| Administrator | Director General Josef Aschbacher |
| Primary spaceport | Guiana Space Centre |
| Owners |
|
| Employees | 2,200[3] |
| Annual budget | €7.2 billion (2022)[4] |
| Website | www |
6. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
The Japanese government's national space agency is known as JAXA. It was established in 2003, and its headquarters is in Tokyo. By the way, Japan's interest in space started only after World War 2. But for many years, Japan had no space agency; then, in 1969, Japan signed the Outer Space Treaty, and on October 1, 2003, the JAXA was formed when three organizations merged. Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NSDAJ) were the first, second, and third organizations, respectively.
| Abbreviation | JAXA (ジャクサ) |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 October 2003 |
| Preceding agencies |
|
| Type | Space agency |
| Headquarters | Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan |
| Motto | One JAXA |
| Administrator | Hiroshi Yamakawa |
| Primary spaceport | Tanegashima Space Center |
| Owner | Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Government of Japan) |
| Annual budget | ¥212.4 billion (FY2021)[1] |
| Website | www |
7. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
SpaceX is the first private space research company in the world. Elon Musk, a well-known businessman, founded it in 2002. The main objective of SpaceX is to reduce the cost of going to space. The headquarters of this space agency is in Hawthorne, California.
8. National Centre for Space Studies (France)
The Space Agency of France was established in the year 1961. Its headquarters are in Paris. This space agency is also known as CNES. Centre national d'études spatiales is the full form of CNES, which is in the french language. After Russia's Soviet space program and America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration, CNES is the world's third-oldest space agency.
| Abbreviation | CNES |
|---|---|
| Formed | 19 December 1961 |
| Type | Space agency |
| Headquarters | Paris, Île-de-France |
| Administrator | Philippe Baptiste |
| Primary spaceports |
|
| Annual budget | €2.566 billion (2022)[1] |
| Website | https://cnes.fr/ |
9. German Aerospace Center (DLR)
This space agency is considered one of the oldest agencies in the world. This space agency was founded in the year 1969. Space, Transportation, Aeronautics, Security, Digitalization, and Energy are all areas in which the German Aerospace Center works. The headquarters of this space agency is in Cologne. DLR also serves as Germany's space agency, so the German Aerospace Center conducts missions, plans, and implements the space program on behalf of the German government.
| Abbreviation | DLR |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1969 |
| Type | Space agency |
| Headquarters | Cologne (Köln), Germany |
| Administrator | Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla |
| Employees | 8,127 [1] |
| Annual budget | €1.261 billion (2020)[2] |
| Website | www.dlr.de |
10. Italian Space Agency (ASI)
Italian Space Agency was established in 1988, and the headquarters of this space agency is in Rome. Today this space agency is one of the top 10 space agencies globally. This space agency has also worked on many major space exploration projects in collaboration with many space agencies such as Mars Express, Venus Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Juno, Cassini-Huygens, and XMM-Newton.
| Formed | 1 January 1988[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Italian government |
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
| Employees | 200 |
| Annual budget | €2.0 billion ($2.1 billion) in 2020[3] |
| Agency executives |
|
| Website | www.asi.it |
Top 10 most likely space agencies .
