Awesome Map of Space Agencies Around the World

By Nancy Atkinson - June 26, 2012 at 3:34 PM UTC | Space Policy
space-agency-map.jpg

When you think of space agencies around the world, what comes to mind? Probably NASA, ESA, ISRO and JAXA are the acronyms you know; then there's the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and the China National Space Agency. But did you know there are dozens of countries with space agencies, with nearly 200 space agencies and centers around the world? Blogger Heather Archuletta has put together

a map and list of all the space agencies on the planet

, including countries you may not have realized had a space agency such as Argentina, Bulgaria, Pakistan Morocco, and more. The list includes links to all the space agency's websites and a link to an interactive Google Map. The immediate thought that came to mind, which Heather shared on

Twitter

was, ROAD TRIP!

For any space nerd, that would be the ultimate global trek, to visit every space agency in the world. With all the NASA and Russian centers and all the various countries in ESA, your trip would include 198 locations around our planet!

Heather is known for her

Pillownaut blog

which originally detailed her time participating in NASA bedrest studies to simulate long duration spaceflight. The space agency map was a new project, born from a conversation with a friend.

"Overall, I created it to be a tracking tool, and to show how huge the space industry has become," Heather told Universe Today. "Many people think of the space game as being the US, Russia and a handful of Europeans... but truly, lifestyle in many countries is dependent upon the use of space, even if it's just as simple as remote sensing or collaborative satellites."

Heather noted that the map includes one site in India that is not operational yet, but built.

But consider how many jobs around the world have been created because of space exploration... and these jobs employ some of the best and brightest minds in forward-thinking, global-enriching ways. And even more, there's now the burgeoning private space industry that is employing even more people with jobs that focus on the future.

Check out

http://pillownaut.com/spacemap/spacemap.html

and plan your space-nerd road trip today!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com