The Luxembourg Directorate of Defence and Virgin Orbit have signed a letter of intent to develop responsive space capabilities, including mobile launch infrastructures available for NATO partners and neighboring European countries.
The agreement calls on Virgin Orbit to prepare plans for its Luxembourg-based LauncherOne flexible launch system offering “transportable, mobile, rapid and responsive launch services.”
The signing ceremony was attended by Luxembourg defense minister François Bausch and company CEO Dan Hart.
“Luxembourg Defence is constantly searching for new ways to strengthen its role as a reference partner in the space domain,” Bausch said.
“We aim at contributing to the joint effort in defence by developing high-end space capabilities and ensuring access to space through resilient satellite launch capabilities.”
Luxembourg’s Defence Space Strategy
The collaboration with Virgin Orbit will support Luxembourg’s Defence Space Strategy in developing SATCOM, Earth Observation, and Space Situational Awareness capabilities to bolster the country’s international cooperation and freedom of action in the space domain.
“Our future cooperation with Virgin Orbit is an excellent example of this ambition and we are looking forward to further investigate how we can contribute to the development of the responsive space capability with Allies and partners,” the defense minister said.
Global Spaceport Network
LauncherOne system is expected to emerge as a global spaceport network that opens launch and integrated mission service opportunities for international defense and intelligence customers.
“As we approach the first historic launch in the United Kingdom and recent announcements to bring air-launch capability to other parts of the world, this initiative in Luxembourg resonates as another significant milestone in our journey to enable resilient space access by providing a game-changing global launch infrastructure,” Hart explained.
