Over the last 57 years of space exploration, a lot of countries have had some involvement in space. This can range from the building of rockets, designing experiments to go on board, and even providing and training the astronauts who go into space. Due to the tremendous cost of space travel, exploration outside our planet has become a truly international affair.
That being said only a limited selection of countries possess the ability to launch something into orbit around the Earth. To date, there are only 9 countries that have the capability to launch space rockets. These are Russia, the United States, France, Japan, China, India, Israel, Iran, and North Korea. These 9 countries have the ability to build and launch an orbit-capable vehicle. Great Britain developed launch capacity in the 1970s but did not join the European consortium Arianespace, therefore losing this ability. A few other countries have inherited technology allowing them to make orbital flights. These include Ukraine and South Korea, and nine other European countries that have access through the combined effort of ESA and Arianespace.
The space industry itself is based on thousands of firms that operate at different levels. These range from mega-firms such as Boeing, which manufactures rockets, to those that make engines, such as Aerojet Rocketdyne, and others that provide systems and subsystems such as space suits, avionics, electrical systems, heat shields, and life support equipment.
Some major players operating in space technology include The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
