SYS.ATLAS // GLOBAL SMALLSAT & POCKETQUBE NATIONAL STATISTICS (28 COUNTRIES + ESA/QB50)

Global SmallSat & PocketQube Nations Atlas

Comparative country-by-country telemetry, form-factor distributions (1P–3P PocketQube vs. 1U–12U CubeSat), orbital survival rates, bilateral head-to-head ecosystem comparisons, and institutional flight heritage dossiers across 28 countries + ESA/QB50 (29 national & international programmes) indexed in the nadir lab. 143-satellite mission database (1999–2026).

01 // GLOBAL SMALLSAT & POCKETQUBE CENSUS TELEMETRY (1999–2026)

ISO 3166-1 Registry · 28 Sovereign Nations + 1 Int'l Agency (ESA/EU)
Spacefaring Nations
28
+ 1 Int'l Org (ESA/EU)
Catalogued Spacecraft
143
1999–2026 Flight Index
PocketQubes (1P–3P)
106
74.1% of index
CubeSats (1U–12U)
37
25.9% of index
Active / Completed
14 / 7
71 decayed in LEO
Nominal Injection
94.4%
8 launch/deployer losses
02 // CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARATIVE STATISTICS MATRIX

Comparative SmallSat & PocketQube Output by Nation (29)

PocketQube (1P–3P)CubeSat / Other (1U–12U)
Click any nation row to open its full engineering dossier & flight timeline below
#Nation (ISO)RegionForm-Factor Share (PQ vs. CS)Total1P–3P1U–12UActiveDecayedNominal %SpanDossier
01ESSpainEurope
3030012387%2019–2026Inspect →
02USUnited StatesNorth America
241410114100%2003–2023Active
03GBUnited KingdomEurope
191811989%2013–2026Inspect →
04TRTürkiyeEurope
136706100%2009–2025Inspect →
05GRGreeceEurope
9811278%2021–2026Inspect →
06HUHungaryEurope
65115100%2019–2025Inspect →
07DEGermanyEurope
44020100%2013–2026Inspect →
08ARArgentinaLatin America
33002100%2021–2023Inspect →
09DKDenmarkEurope
30301100%2003–2015Inspect →
10EUEuropean Space Agency / QB50 (Int'l)Europe
30321100%2019–2024Inspect →
11ILIsraelMiddle East & Eurasia
33001100%2022–2023Inspect →
12CACanadaNorth America
20210100%2003–2026Inspect →
13ITItalyEurope
21101100%2021Inspect →
14JPJapanAsia-Pacific
20220100%2003Inspect →
15NLNetherlandsEurope
21102100%2008–2022Inspect →
16PLPolandEurope
21102100%2018–2025Inspect →
17PTPortugalEurope
21110100%2024–2025Inspect →
18RORomaniaEurope
22000100%2023Inspect →
19SASaudi ArabiaMiddle East & Eurasia
22000100%2025Inspect →
20AZAzerbaijanMiddle East & Eurasia
11000100%2025Inspect →
21BRBrazilLatin America
11000100%2022Inspect →
22EEEstoniaEurope
10100100%2013Inspect →
23INIndiaAsia-Pacific
11001100%2022Inspect →
24KZKazakhstanMiddle East & Eurasia
11000100%2026Inspect →
25LULuxembourgEurope
11000100%2025Inspect →
26MYMalaysiaAsia-Pacific
11000100%2026Inspect →
27CHSwitzerlandEurope
10110100%2009Inspect →
28AEUnited Arab EmiratesMiddle East & Eurasia
10101100%2017Inspect →
29VNVietnamAsia-Pacific
11000100%2026Inspect →
03 // BILATERAL NATIONAL ECOSYSTEM COMPARATOR

Head-to-Head Country Comparison: United States (US) vs. Spain (ES)

VS
ISO // US · North America

United States

Total
24
1P–3P / 1U–12U
14 / 10
Nominal %
100%
Active / Decayed
1 · 14
Span
2003 → 2023
RF
UHF, S, X, L

The United States originated both the CubeSat Design Specification (Cal Poly & Stanford, 1999) and the PocketQube 5 cm concept (Prof. Bob Twiggs at Morehead State University, 2009). US missions span the 2013 $50SAT (Eagle-2) pioneer, large commercial 3U Earth-observation constellations (Planet Flock), and interplanetary 6U/12U CubeSats (MarCO-A/B at Mars, CAPSTONE at the Moon).

Key Laboratories, Agencies & Operators

  • Cal Poly San Luis Obispo & Stanford University (SSDL)
  • Morehead State University ($50SAT / Eagle-2)
  • NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
  • Planet Labs (Dove / Flock 3U Fleet)
  • Stara Space & Mini-Cubes LLC
  • interorbital Systems & Alba Orbital US Clusters

Launch Vehicles Utilized

Rockot · Minotaur I (Wallops) · Dnepr · Antares 120 (Cygnus CRS-1 · PSLV · Falcon 9 · Atlas V · Antares 230 (OA-9 · Antares (Cygnus NG-10) · Antares 230 (Cygnus NG-11) · Electron

ISO // ES · Europe

Spain

Total
30
1P–3P / 1U–12U
30 / 0
Nominal %
87%
Active / Decayed
1 · 23
Span
2019 → 2026
RF
UHF, VHF

Spain leads the global PocketQube launch census by spacecraft count, driven by two parallel ecosystems: FOSSA Systems' commercial 1P–3P LoRaWAN IoT fleet (FossaSat-1 through FEROX) and AMSAT-EA / Hydra Space's prolific HADES and EASAT amateur radio and university payload series.

Key Laboratories, Agencies & Operators

  • FOSSA Systems (Madrid)
  • AMSAT-EA (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. Spain)
  • Hydra Space Systems
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)
  • Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M)
  • Universidad Europea de Madrid

Launch Vehicles Utilized

Electron · Alpha (FLTA001) · Falcon 9 · Alpha (FLTA002)

04 // NATIONAL ENGINEERING DOSSIER & MISSION REGISTRY

Select any of the 29 spacefaring nations below to inspect its complete satellite catalog, institutional laboratories, and flight heritage timeline:

COUNTRY DOSSIER // ISO-3166: US · REGION: NORTH AMERICA

United States — Small Satellite & PocketQube Heritage

Open Full 143-Satellite Database

The United States originated both the CubeSat Design Specification (Cal Poly & Stanford, 1999) and the PocketQube 5 cm concept (Prof. Bob Twiggs at Morehead State University, 2009). US missions span the 2013 $50SAT (Eagle-2) pioneer, large commercial 3U Earth-observation constellations (Planet Flock), and interplanetary 6U/12U CubeSats (MarCO-A/B at Mars, CAPSTONE at the Moon).

Catalogued US Spacecraft
24
Form-Factor Split
14 PQ / 10 CS
Launch Window
2003–2023
Nominal Orbital Rate
100%

Catalogued United States Missions (24)

MissionForm FactorLaunch DateLaunch VehicleOperator / InstitutionDownlink (MHz)NORAD IDStatus
QuakeSat3U30 Jun 2003Rockot-KMStanford University / QuakeFinder436.67527845Completed
GeneSat-13U16 Dec 2006Minotaur I (Wallops)NASA Ames Research Center——Re-entered
$50SAT1.5P21 Nov 2013DneprMorehead State Univ.—39436Re-entered
Beakersat-12.5P21 Nov 2013DneprMorehead State Univ. / Sonoma State Univ.—39437Re-entered
QubeScout-S12.5P21 Nov 2013DneprUniv. of Maryland—39443Re-entered
Flock-1 / Dove (SuperDove)3U9 Jan 2014Antares 120 (Cygnus CRS-1 / ISS)Planet Labs——Completed
Lemur-2 (Spire Constellation)3U28 Sept 2015PSLV-XL (PSLV-C30)Spire Global——Active
ASTERIA6U14 Aug 2017Falcon 9 (CRS-12 / ISS NRCSD)MIT & NASA JPL—43020Re-entered
MarCO-A / MarCO-B6U5 May 2018Atlas V 401 (InSight)NASA JPL——Completed
RainCube6U21 May 2018Antares 230 (OA-9 / ISS NRCSD)NASA JPL—43548Re-entered
KickSat-2 and Sprites3U + 105 ChipSats17 Nov 2018Antares (Cygnus NG-10)Cornell / Stanford, NASA Ames——Re-entered
ThinSat 1A–1LThinSat (3T/6T strings)17 Apr 2019Antares 230 (Cygnus NG-11)Virginia Space and student teams——Re-entered
TRSI-Sat1P6 Dec 2019ElectronACME AtronOmatic——Not verified
NOOR 1A3P6 Dec 2019ElectronStara Space—44827Re-entered
NOOR 1B3P6 Dec 2019ElectronStara Space—44828Re-entered
Tartan-Artibeus-11P13 Jan 2022Falcon 9 (Transporter-3)Carnegie Mellon Univ.——Not verified
Challenger3P13 Jan 2022Falcon 9 (Transporter-3)Mini-Cubes——Not verified
MyRadar-11P2 May 2022ElectronACME AtronOmatic—52419Re-entered
TRSI-21P2 May 2022ElectronACME AtronOmatic—52420Re-entered
TRSI-31P2 May 2022ElectronACME AtronOmatic—52418Re-entered
Veery FS-11P25 May 2022Falcon 9 (Transporter-5)Care Weather Technologies—52777Re-entered
CAPSTONE12U28 Jun 2022Electron + Photon (Mahia)Advanced Space / NASA——Completed
SpaceANT-D1P11 Nov 2023Falcon 9 (Transporter-9)InSpace——Not verified
Tartan-Artibeus-21P11 Nov 2023Falcon 9 (Transporter-9)Carnegie Mellon Univ.——Not verified

National Flight Heritage Milestones (United States)

  1. 2003–2006

    QuakeSat & GeneSat-1 (3U CubeSats)

    Stanford University & NASA Ames

    Early 3U CubeSat flight heritage proving deployable booms, magnetic stabilization, and biological microfluidics in LEO.

  2. 2013

    $50SAT / Eagle-2 (1.5P PocketQube — NORAD 39436)

    Morehead State University & Prof. Bob Twiggs

    One of the world's first four PocketQubes launched on Dnepr (21 Nov 2013), operating in LEO before re-entering on 19 May 2018.

  3. 2018

    MarCO-A & MarCO-B (6U Deep-Space CubeSats)

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

    First interplanetary CubeSats; performed real-time UHF-to-X-band bent-pipe telemetry relay during the InSight Mars EDL.

  4. 2022

    CAPSTONE (12U Cislunar CubeSat)

    Advanced Space & NASA

    Demonstrated autonomous navigation and station-keeping in a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon.

Agencies, University Laboratories & Commercial Operators

Technical Focus: Origin of the CubeSat (1999) and PocketQube (2009) standards, deep-space 6U/12U exploration (MarCO, CAPSTONE), and commercial EO constellations

  • Cal Poly San Luis Obispo & Stanford University (SSDL)
  • Morehead State University ($50SAT / Eagle-2)
  • NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
  • Planet Labs (Dove / Flock 3U Fleet)
  • Stara Space & Mini-Cubes LLC
  • interorbital Systems & Alba Orbital US Clusters