7,433 orbital launches: a two-superpower map in 1965 is a 20-bloc map today, with 47 of 76 sites still active
Asked:
“Every orbital launch from 1957 to today — for each one list the year, the launch site, the operating bloc and whether the site is still active.”
All 7,433 orbital launch attempts (successes and failures) in the current GCAT launch log, 1957 through 2026, across 76 launch-site codes and 20 operating blocs — the complete register, not a sample. Every row is single-sourced to Jonathan McDowell’s GCAT catalog (snapshot updated 2026-10-17), with GCAT-derived Orbital Radar annual pages as corroborating links.
Where the world launched, year by year
Each circle is a GCAT launch-site code, sized by launches up to the displayed year. Colour is the site’s current status in the 2026 snapshot.
1957
site still active (no recorded stop date)site inactive (dated stop in GCAT)Hover a circle for the site’s name, totals and status
Launches per year by operating bloc
Operating bloc is GCAT LVState — the state behind the launch-vehicle organization. USSR and Russia are joined as one band; “other” folds the remaining 16 blocs (France, Japan, India, New Zealand, ESA and more).
The lone “unknown” site status in 7,433 rows is a single 2021 Chinese launch logged against an unresolved site code with no coordinates. planet4589.org
2,989 launches — 40% of history — flew from the 47 site codes still active in the snapshot; the other 4,443 flew from sites whose GCAT record now carries a stop date. planet4589.org
Through 1964 only the USA and USSR launched; Germany and Australia became the 19th and 20th blocs to attempt orbit in 2025, a year with 329 launches worldwide. orbitalradar.com
Plesetsk (the 53rd test range) is the single busiest site code with 1,414 launches, ahead of Cape Canaveral’s 1,107 and Baykonur’s NIIP-5 at 894. planet4589.org
The complete register
All 7,433 launches, chronological. GCAT object rows sharing a launch ID are collapsed to one launch entry. Activity is the GCAT site record’s status as of 2026-10-17 (“Yes” = no recorded stop date), describing the site/complex, not every historical pad there.
Date
Launch ID
Launch site
Code
Pad
Bloc
Site active
Source
Method: GCAT (planet4589.org) derived launch log joined to GCAT sites and organizations tables, snapshot updated 2026-10-17; 7,433 orbital launch attempts 1957–2026 (failures included), 76 site codes, 20 operating blocs. Operating bloc = GCAT LVState. “Site active” derives from the GCAT site record’s stop field: “*” or “-” (no recorded stop) = yes; a dated stop = no; unresolved = unknown. Single-sourced at row level to GCAT; Orbital Radar year pages are GCAT-derived corroboration, not an independent dataset. Agency and launch-result codes were cut from the table for space; one 2021 launch lacks coordinates and is absent from the map.