J-Space Partners With Virgin Orbit to Bring Sovereign Air-Launch Capability to South Korea
Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB), a leading launch provider, announced today that it has signed an agreement with South Korean investment group J-Space. The agreement will allow the companies to assess candidate spaceport launch sites in South Korea, with the goal of providing satellite launch services from there using Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne System. The cooperative effort is designed to act as a catalyst to the burgeoning Korean small satellite and space solutions market, stimulate local economic growth, and provide the South Korean government with a flexible and responsive launch capability in support of a wide range of mission applications.
In pursuing its mission to transform the space industry in South Korea, J-Space looks to leverage Virgin Orbit’s unique mobile launch system and its capability to offer nations a turnkey small satellite launch capability that can quickly become fully operational, thereby satisfying commercial, civil government, and defense requirements.
Drawing on local expertise and funding by J-Space and on launch and mission expertise from Virgin Orbit, the partnership will focus its initial efforts on linking with local South Korean high-tech industries and formulating end-to-end mission solutions that will benefit the nation and broader region. The partners aim to develop a roadmap that will result in launch site identification and operations, delineate specific investor and business objectives, and identify key partners in the region. The roadmap will seek to lay out the steps required to enable the first flights of LauncherOne to occur from South Korea in as little as 12 -18 months.
“We are pleased to enter into this exclusive agreement with J-Space to provide launch operations and space services for the South Korean market,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “The Korean space industry has made huge strides in the past few years both in the commercial and government sectors, with the South Korean government increasing its space budget by over twenty percent in the past year alone. We are excited by the growth and partnership opportunities in the region that could include industrial base participation in South Korea and look forward to working with the visionary team at J-Space to expedite a flexible launch solution from the Korean peninsula in the near-future.”
Bongki Min, J-Space’s CEO, expressed his excitement for the partnership, noting, “Our work with Virgin Orbit opens the potential for unparalleled access to space from South Korea, enabling many of the new space utilization companies in Korea by providing affordable, flexible, and rapid launch. We want to build upon and extend the current South Korean space infrastructure, helping further enhance our role as a global leader in space. Our relationship with Virgin Orbit provides a key catalyst for that growth.”
About Virgin Orbit
Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) operates one of the most flexible and responsive space launch systems ever built. Founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2017, the company began commercial service in 2021, and has already delivered commercial, civil, national security, and international satellites into orbit. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rockets are designed and manufactured in Long Beach, California, and are air-launched from a modified 747-400 carrier aircraft that allows Virgin Orbit to operate from locations all over the world in order to best serve each customer’s needs. Learn more at www.virginorbit.com and visit us on LinkedIn, on Twitter @virginorbit, and on Instagram @virgin.orbit.
About J-Space
J-Space was founded in Jan 2022 to conduct satellite launch and space related business. Its mission is to provide domestic and foreign companies with the necessary tools required to compete in the commercial space industry. J-Space is the premier satellite launch service targeting the Asian market.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including with respect to the expected South-Korea-based space activities and launches. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to the Company’s ability to access sources of capital; its ability to grow market share in the developing space economy; market acceptance of its current and planned products and services and ability to achieve sufficient production volumes, as well as the factors, risks and uncertainties included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2022, as well as in the Company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Information section of the Company’s website at www.virginorbit.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Virgin Orbit assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Virgin Orbit gives no assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
Contacts
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Amanda Horn
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