Editing Spaceflight (section)

===Uncrewed spacefaring nations===
{{Further|Timeline of first orbital launches by country}}
The following nations or organizations have developed their own launch vehicles to launch uncrewed spacecraft into orbit either from their own territory or with foreign assistance (date of first launch in parentheses):<ref>{{Cite web |title=Space Today Online – Iran space satellite launch |url=http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/Iran/IranianSat.html |website=www.spacetoday.org}}</ref>

# [[Soviet Union]] (1957)
# [[United States]] (1958)
# [[France]] (1965)
# [[Italy]] (1967)★
# [[Australia]] (1967)★
# [[Japan]] (1970)
# [[China]] (1970)
# [[United Kingdom]] (1971)
# [[European Space Agency]] (1979)
# [[India]] (1980)
# [[Israel]] (1988)
# [[Ukraine]] (1991)*<ref>{{cite web|title=Launches of Ukrainian LV|url=http://www.nkau.gov.ua/nsau/catalogNEW.nsf/zapuskbydataE!OpenView&Start=117|work=State Space Agency of Ukraine|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref>
# [[Russia]] (1992)*
# [[Iran]] (2009)<ref name=space20140101>{{cite news|title=Iran Launches Small Earth-Watching Satellite Into Orbit: Report|url=http://www.space.com/14464-iran-launches-small-satellite-orbit.html|access-date=2014-01-01|newspaper=space.com|date=2012-02-03}}</ref>
# [[North Korea]] (2012)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20690338|title=North Korea defies warnings to launch rocket|publisher=BBC|date=12 December 2012|access-date=12 December 2012}}</ref>
# [[South Korea]] (2013)★<ref name=xinhua20130130>{{cite news|title=S. Korea successfully launches space rocket|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/30/c_132138953.htm|access-date=2013-02-10|newspaper=xinhuanet.com|date=2013-01-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204012038/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-01/30/c_132138953.htm|archive-date=2013-02-04}}</ref>
# [[New Zealand]] (2018)★
* *Previously a major region in the Soviet Union
* ★Launch vehicle fully or partially developed by another country

Also several countries, such as Canada, Italy, and Australia, had semi-independent spacefaring capability, launching locally-built satellites on foreign launchers. Canada had designed and built satellites (''[[Alouette 1]]'' and [[Alouette 2|2]]) in 1962 and 1965 which were orbited using U.S. launch vehicles. Italy has designed and built several satellites, as well as pressurized modules for the [[International Space Station]]. Early Italian satellites were launched using vehicles provided by NASA, first from [[Wallops Flight Facility]] in 1964 and then from a spaceport in Kenya ([[San Marco Platform]]) between 1967 and 1988;{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} Italy has led the development of the [[Vega (launcher)|Vega]] rocket programme within the European Space Agency since 1998.<ref name="ESA Vega Programme">{{cite web | url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Launch_vehicles/Vega3/Vega_programme | title=Vega Programme | publisher=ESA | work=www.esa.int | access-date=February 10, 2013 | archive-date=March 14, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314131009/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Launch_vehicles/Vega3/Vega_programme | url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[United Kingdom]] abandoned its independent space launch program in 1972 in favour of co-operating with the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) on launch technologies until 1974. Australia abandoned its launcher program shortly after the successful launch of [[WRESAT]], and became the only non-European member of ELDO.