News
All Nippon Airways signs up for rockets; tests cargo drones
November 8th 2021
All Nippon Airways parent, ANA Holdings, has signed a non-binding agreement with Virgin Oribit to operate 20 flights of its LauncherOne rocket system from an airport in Japan’s Oita Prefecture. Read More » The Memorandum of Understanding will result in ANA and several partners funding the manufacture of mobile ground support equipment to prepare the LauncherOne system. The system is designed to launch a rocket in mid-air from a customised 747 from a pre-existing runway. The ANA group said the aim was to make Oita a Launcher-one ready spaceport as soon as the end of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals by Japanese and U.S. authorities. It said available launch services in Japan and other parts of Asia had been limited to fixed sites but Virgin Orbit was set to change that by bringing air launch to the Eastern Hemisphere for the first time. “Virgin Orbit offers something no other launch company can. That capability will be extremely valuable to the growing space industry in Japan and throughout the region,” said ANA executive vice president, Koji Shibata. ANA Holdings also revealed it has partnered with several Japanese firms, including BIRD INIATIVE and NEC Corporation, to conduct a drone pilot project in Wakkanai City, Hokkaido prefecture. The project has tested the ability of drones to deliver pharmaceutical supplies to remote areas and operate at airports using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) decentralised traffic management system known as UTM. UTM enables multiple drone operators to operate drones safely and efficiently within the same airspace.
