Several other industrialized and developing nations produce satellites, but unlike the above listed nations, do not have their own launch vehicles. Instead, they procure launch services from the United States, Russia, the ESA, or commercial companies. These countries include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Five of these nations have major space programs. The French space program, the largest in Europe, is run by the Centre National D'Études Spatiales (CNES), formed in December 1961. The French have a prominent role in the European Space Agency and are a major shareholder in Arianespace. France also builds advanced remote sensing satellites, such as SPOT, for commercial purposes. Two organizations, the part-government-funded German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR), founded on April 27, 1989, and the fully governmental German Aerospace Agency (DARA), founded on December 24, 1988, manage the German space program. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), formed on December 14, 1989, manages all Canadian participation in space exploration such as the development of satellites and the robot arm for the Space Shuttle. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) established in 1988 manages Italian space affairs. ASI has a major contribution to the International Space Station and future European launch vehicles. The Ukrainian government formed the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NKAU) on March 2, 1992. Despite a vast space industry infrastructure, the Ukrainian space program has a relatively low profile in the international space market, although it commercially offers its Soviet-era Zenit launch vehicle jointly with Russia.
I repeat every democratic state grants language native minorities.
