Virgin Orbit Bankruptcy Casts Shadow Over Japan’s Space Dreams

Cosmic Girl, a Virgin Boeing 747-400 aircraft sits on the tarmac with Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket attached to the wing, ahead of the first UK launch, at Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, on Jan. 9, 2023. Henry Nicholls/Reuters

TOKYO—The bankruptcy filing by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. has dealt a blow to Japan’s hopes of building a domestic space industry, with plans for a Kyushu-based spaceport designed to attract tourism on hold for lack of funding.

Oita prefecture, home to Japan’s largest number of hot springs, partnered with Virgin Orbit in 2020 to create its first Asian spaceport at Oita Airport using a Boeing 747 for horizontal rocket launches.