spacetoday.net: Virgin Orbit planning spaceports in Britain and Japan

Posted: Sun, Jun 9, 2019, 9:45 AM ET (1345 GMT)
The UK government will fund development of spaceport facilities at a British airport to allow it to host Virgin Orbit. The UK Space Agency and a local government will spend up to $25 million on "facilities and operational capabilities" at Cornwall Airport Newquay, also known as Spaceport Cornwall. That investment will allow the airport to host Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne air-launch system for missions starting in the early 2020s. The company previously signed an agreement with the airport to study operating from there, and also plans to also invest in the site. Virgin Orbit also announced it will partner with Japan's ANA Holdings to operate out an airport in Japan. The companies will work with an organization called Space Port Japan to identify a suitable airport in the country for operations, but didn't state when launch operations could begin there.