Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has reserved 20 Virgin Orbit flights aboard the company’s LauncherOne rocket-plane.

An earlier MoU established the relationship between the two. The updated MoU, signed on November 4th, and initialled by Virgin Orbit’s CEO Dan Hart and ANA’s EVP Koji Shibata, has one special condition: the flights must happen from Japan and take flight from Oita on Japan’s Kyushu Island.

The plan hopes that the flights start taking place before the end of 2022.

“Demand for satellite launches in Japan and Asia is rapidly increasing, and it is hoped that the number of launches will be desired from the customers. Virgin Orbit offers something no other launch company can, and that capability will be extremely valuable to the growing space industry in Japan and throughout the region,” commented Koji Shibata, ANA’s EVP.

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Tags: japan, nippon, Richard Branson, virgin, Virgin Orbit