LOUISVILLE, Colo. (Sierra Space PR) – Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company with 1,100 employees, more than 500 missions and over 30 years of space flight heritage, and Kanematsu Corporation announced today that the companies have jointly signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Oita Prefecture agreeing to investigate Oita Airport in Kunisaki, Oita, Japan, as a potential landing site in Asia for Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser® spaceplane.

With the announcement, Sierra Space and Kanematsu will work together to identify and develop new business opportunities for Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser in Japan and across the Asian continent.

OITA, Japan/LONG BEACH, Calif., April 2, 2020 (Virgin Orbit PR) — Virgin Orbit, the California-based small satellite launch company, has announced a new partnership with Oita Prefecture to bring horizontal launch to Japan.

With the support of regional partners ANA Holdings Inc. and the Space Port Japan Association, Virgin Orbit has identified Oita Airport as its preferred pilot launch site — yet another addition to the company’s growing global network of horizontal launch sites — in pursuit of a mission to space from Japan as early as 2022.