- International families
- 1,1662015 to 2024
- Leading country
- United States2.1× the next
- All families
- 7,448home filings included
- Over five years
- Steady2020 to 2024 against the five before
Year by year
Patent families by country of origin and the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in. International families are those for which protection was sought beyond one country.
Volume
International patent families in the capability, by the year of the earliest filing.
Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google
Share by country
Each country's share of the year's international families, in per cent: the capability's five largest countries of origin, 2015 to 2024, and the rest of the world.
Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google
Country leaderboard
International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.
Ten largest
United States
France
Germany
Japan
China
South Korea
United Kingdom
Italy
Canada
India
369
176
121
104
78
59
53
28
25
25
| 2000 to 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 369 | 31.6% | 0.8× | 801 | |
| 2 | France | 176 | 15.1% | 0.5× | 233 | |
| 3 | Germany | 121 | 10.4% | 0.9× | 176 | |
| 4 | Japan | 104 | 8.9% | 1.3× | 244 | |
| 5 | China | 78 | 6.7% | 1.8× | 4,507 | |
| 6 | South Korea | 59 | 5.1% | 1.9× | 505 | |
| 7 | United Kingdom | 53 | 4.5% | 1.2× | 77 | |
| 8 | Italy | 28 | 2.4% | 1.0× | 45 | |
| 9 | Canada | 25 | 2.1% | 1.3× | 31 | |
| 10 | India | 25 | 2.1% | 2.1× | 25 | |
| 11 | Russia | 16 | 1.4% | 0.3× | 556 | |
| 12 | Switzerland | 11 | 0.9% | 1.8× | 15 | |
| 13 | Sweden | 11 | 0.9% | 0.6× | 12 | |
| 14 | Spain | 11 | 0.9% | 0.8× | 12 | |
| 15 | Türkiye | 10 | 0.9% | 9.0× | 21 | |
| 16 | Poland | 10 | 0.9% | 4.0× | 40 | |
| 17 | Israel | 9 | 0.8% | 3.5× | 11 | |
| 18 | Australia | 7 | 0.6% | 1.3× | 20 | |
| 19 | Netherlands | 4 | 0.3% | 3.0× | 6 | |
| 20 | Austria | 4 | 0.3% | 1.0× | 4 | |
| 21 | Taiwan | 3 | 0.3% | 0.5× | 14 | |
| 22 | Belgium | 2 | 0.2% | 0.0× | 3 | |
| 23 | Hungary | 2 | 0.2% | 0.0× | 4 | |
| 24 | Finland | 1 | 0.1% | – | 1 | |
| 25 | Norway | 1 | 0.1% | – | 1 | |
| 26 | Brazil | 1 | 0.1% | – | 7 | |
| 27 | New Zealand | 1 | 0.1% | – | 1 | |
| 28 | South Africa | 1 | 0.1% | – | 1 | |
| 29 | Czechia | 1 | 0.1% | – | 4 | |
| 30 | Liechtenstein | 1 | 0.1% | – | 1 | |
| 31 | Malaysia | 1 | 0.1% | 0.0× | 1 | |
| 32 | Mexico | 0 | 0.0% | – | 1 |
Applicants
The largest applicants by international patent families, 2015 to 2024: across the world, then within each of the five countries with the most families in Space Launch & Reusable Systems. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.
Global
1,166 international families
ARIANEGROUP SAS · France
RAYTHEON CO · United States
ARIANEGROUP GMBH · Germany
AEROJET ROCKETDYNE INC · United States
AIRBUS SAFRAN LAUNCHERS SAS · France
BOEING CO · United States
102
43
38
36
30
30
United States
369 international families
RAYTHEON CO
AEROJET ROCKETDYNE INC
BOEING CO
GEN ELECTRIC
HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORP
GOODRICH CORP
43
36
30
17
12
9
France
176 international families
ARIANEGROUP SAS
AIRBUS SAFRAN LAUNCHERS SAS
CENTRE NAT ETD SPATIALES
SNECMA
THALES SA
AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE SAS
102
30
20
16
11
8
Germany
121 international families
ARIANEGROUP GMBH
DEUTSCH ZENTR LUFT & RAUMFAHRT
AIRBUS DS GMBH
AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE GMBH
BAYERN CHEMIE GES FUER FLUGCHEMISCHE ANTRIEBE MBH
HERRMANN MATHIAS
38
23
18
8
7
4
Japan
104 international families
MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP
IHI CORP
JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION
NAT RES & DEVELOPMENT AGENCY JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCY
BULL CO LTD
21
12
11
11
9
7
China
78 international families
XIAN AEROSPACE PROPULSION INSTITUTE
LANDSPACE SCIENCE & TECH CO LTD
XIAN SPACE ENGINE COMPANY LTD
BEIJING INTERSTELLAR GLORY SPACE TECH CO LTD
BEIJING INTERSTELLAR GLORY TECH LLC
BEIJING XINGJI RONGYAO TECH CO LTD
8
7
6
5
5
5
Similar capabilities
The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Space Launch & Reusable Systems, 2015 to 2024: the families counted in both as a share of those counted in either. Each card shows its five largest countries.
National Security
Assured Space Access
90.9% shared · 1,060 families in both
United States
France
Germany
Japan
China
348
166
106
80
69
Critical Technology
Advanced Propulsion & Hypersonic Systems
44.1% shared · 917 families in both
United States
France
Germany
Japan
China
732
229
172
130
104
Strategic Infrastructure
Launch, Maintenance & Support
13.9% shared · 262 families in both
United States
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Japan
428
135
90
56
54
Strategic Infrastructure
Satellites & Orbital Systems
5.8% shared · 589 families in both
United States
China
Japan
France
South Korea
3,071
2,252
925
693
509
Critical Technology
Satellite & Constellation Technologies
3.8% shared · 382 families in both
United States
China
Japan
France
South Korea
2,984
2,248
933
651
508
National Security
Space Domain Awareness & Control
3.6% shared · 56 families in both
Japan
United States
France
Germany
China
145
123
41
26
21
Critical Technology
Energetic Materials
3.3% shared · 57 families in both
United States
France
China
Germany
Japan
166
62
59
59
41
National Security
Long-Range Strike
2.9% shared · 56 families in both
United States
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Israel
278
159
88
77
44
National Security
Land Fires
1.7% shared · 42 families in both
United States
Germany
France
United Kingdom
South Korea
357
232
127
113
93
Crosswalk
How Space Launch & Reusable Systems is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 71 Cooperative entries in all. A patent family counts when any of its codes, in either scheme and at any office, falls under one of them. Codes since retired are placed under the entries that replaced them.
| Entry | Title in the scheme | Why it is chosen | CPC codes | IPC codes | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B64G1/002 | Launch systems | Space launch systems | 4 | none | 4,523 |
| B64G1/14 | Space shuttles | Space shuttles and reusable spaceplanes | 1 | 1 | 1,546 |
| B64G1/62 | Systems for re-entry into the earth's atmosphere; Retarding or landing devices | Re-entry, retarding and landing systems | 3 | 1 | 3,127 |
| B64G5/00 | Ground equipment for vehicles, e.g. starting towers, fuelling arrangements | Launch pads, towers and ground fuelling | 2 | 1 | 2,636 |
| F02K9/00 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof | Rocket engines | 61 | 48 | 55,721 |
CPC and IPC codes are the codes in use on patent documents, at any office, that fall under the entry. Documents is the larger of the two schemes' counts of documents carrying one of them. An entry with no IPC codes can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme.
The Cooperative codes in use that count towards Space Launch & Reusable Systems: 71 codes on 65,360 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.
| Code | Title | Under entry | How placed | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B64G1/002 | Launch systems | B64G1/002 | In the scheme | 2,866 |
| F02K9/95 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by starting or ignition means or arrangements | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 2,768 |
| F02K9/64 | Combustion or thrust chambers having cooling arrangements | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 2,712 |
| F02K9/52 | Injectors | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 2,646 |
| F02K9/97 | Rocket nozzles | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 2,540 |
| F02K9/96 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by specially adapted arrangements for testing or measuring | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 2,210 |
| B64G5/00 | Ground equipment for vehicles, e.g. starting towers, fuelling arrangements | B64G5/00 | In the scheme | 1,877 |
| F02K9/60 | Constructional parts; Details not otherwise provided for | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,869 |
| B64G1/62 | Systems for re-entry into the earth's atmosphere; Retarding or landing devices | B64G1/62 | In the scheme | 1,868 |
| F02K9/62 | Combustion or thrust chambers | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,802 |
| F02K9/34 | Casings; Combustion chambers; Liners thereof | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,547 |
| B64G1/14 | Space shuttles | B64G1/14 | In the scheme | 1,507 |
| F02K9/44 | Feeding propellants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,490 |
| F02K9/42 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using liquid or gaseous propellants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,420 |
| F02K9/58 | Propellant feed valves | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,419 |
| F02K9/972 | Fluid cooling arrangements for nozzles | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,352 |
| F02K9/50 | Feeding propellants using pressurised fluid to pressurise the propellants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,337 |
| F02K9/605 | Reservoirs | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,238 |
| F02K9/48 | Feeding propellants using pumps driven by a gas turbine fed by propellant combustion gases or fed by vaporized propellants or other gases | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,224 |
| F02K9/974 | Nozzle- linings; Ablative coatings | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,166 |
| F02K9/72 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using liquid and solid propellants, i.e. hybrid rocket-engine plants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,123 |
| F02K9/46 | Feeding propellants using pumps | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,104 |
| F02K9/346 | Liners, e.g. inhibitors | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 1,001 |
| F02K9/08 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using solid propellants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 992 |
| F02K9/56 | Control | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 976 |
| F02K9/10 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 964 |
| F02K9/24 | Charging rocket engines with solid propellants; Methods or apparatus specially adapted for working solid propellant charges | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 951 |
| F02K9/80 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 935 |
| F02K9/32 | Constructional parts; Details not otherwise provided for | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 929 |
| F02K9/84 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control using movable nozzles | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 891 |
| F02K9/68 | Decomposition chambers | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 886 |
| F02K9/00 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 880 |
| B64G1/623 | Retarding devices, e.g. retrorockets | B64G1/62 | In the scheme | 800 |
| B64G1/005 | Air launch | B64G1/002 | In the scheme | 767 |
| F02K9/38 | Safety devices, e.g. to prevent accidental ignition | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 762 |
| F02K9/425 | Propellants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 744 |
| F02K9/94 | Re-ignitable or restartable rocket- engine plants; Intermittently operated rocket-engine plants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 703 |
| F02K9/86 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control using nozzle throats of adjustable cross- section | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 686 |
| F02K9/26 | Burning control | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 684 |
| F02K9/805 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control servo-mechanisms or control devices therefor | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 674 |
| B64G1/006 | Reusable launch rockets or boosters | B64G1/002 | In the scheme | 667 |
| F02K9/36 | Propellant charge supports | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 643 |
| F02K9/78 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof combined with another jet-propulsion plant with an air-breathing jet-propulsion plant | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 637 |
| F02K9/978 | Closures for nozzles; Nozzles comprising ejectable or discardable elements | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 595 |
| F02K9/343 | Joints, connections, seals therefor | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 586 |
| F02K9/12 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges made of two or more portions burning at different rates or having different characteristics | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 576 |
| F02K9/28 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using solid propellants having two or more propellant charges with the propulsion gases exhausting through a common nozzle | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 547 |
| F02K9/82 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control by injection of a secondary fluid into the rocket exhaust gases | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 523 |
| F02K9/88 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control using auxiliary rocket nozzles | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 522 |
| F02K9/90 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control using deflectors | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 514 |
| F02K9/18 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges of the internal-burning type having a star or like shaped internal cavity | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 497 |
| B64G1/625 | Landing devices; Undercarriages | B64G1/62 | In the scheme | 459 |
| F02K9/976 | Deployable nozzles | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 414 |
| F02K9/14 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges made from sheet-like materials, e.g. of carpet-roll type, of layered structure | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 392 |
| F02K9/563 | Control of propellant feed pumps | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 380 |
| F02K9/566 | Control elements and safety devices, e.g. pressure relief valves | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 367 |
| F02K9/40 | Cooling arrangements | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 310 |
| F02K9/70 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using semi- solid or pulverulent propellants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 297 |
| F02K9/30 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using solid propellants with the propulsion gases exhausting through a plurality of nozzles | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 283 |
| F02K9/763 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof combined with another jet-propulsion plant with another rocket-engine plant; Multistage rocket-engine plants with solid propellant | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 230 |
| B64G1/008 | Arrangement of launch rockets or boosters | B64G1/002 | In the scheme | 223 |
| F02K9/76 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof combined with another jet-propulsion plant with another rocket-engine plant; Multistage rocket-engine plants | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 217 |
| F02K9/92 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof characterised by thrust or thrust vector control incorporating means for reversing or terminating thrust | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 189 |
| F02K9/66 | Combustion or thrust chambers of the rotary type | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 181 |
| F02K9/54 | Leakage detectors; Purging systems; Filtration systems | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 153 |
| B64G2005/005 | Systems for launching spacecraft from a platform at sea | B64G5/00 | In the scheme | 140 |
| F02K9/766 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof combined with another jet-propulsion plant with another rocket-engine plant; Multistage rocket-engine plants with liquid propellant | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 139 |
| F02K9/22 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges of the front-burning type | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 116 |
| F02K9/74 | Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof combined with another jet-propulsion plant | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 107 |
| F02K9/20 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges of the external-burning type | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 86 |
| F02K9/16 | Shape or structure of solid propellant charges of honeycomb structure | F02K9/00 | In the scheme | 60 |