TOKYO (June 6): Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit said on Thursday it plans to bring its satellite launch system to Japan in partnership with airline operator ANA Holdings Inc , which will provide maintenance and possibly aircraft.

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne system is undergoing testing with the aim of launching rockets bearing small satellites into space from a modified jumbo jet. The company said it will conduct its first orbital test flight later this year.

Branson's space ventures, however, have a history of delays, with his space tourism company Virgin Galactic running more than a decade behind the schedule originally promised by the British billionaire.

Virgin Orbit and ANA Holdings, parent of All Nippon Airways, in a joint statement said they will identify a launch site together with Space Port Japan, an industry-backed body which aims to turn Japan into a space business hub.

The space venture has already announced launch sites in the United States, Guam, Britain and Italy.

Japan's space industry spans large scale government-backed rocket launches by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd - which launched the Michibiki satellite navigation system - to Interstellar Technologies, a startup backed by internet entrepreneur Takufumi Horie that last month launched its first rocket to reach space.