Orbital Sciences to resupply the International Space Station with launches from Virginia

Orbital Sciences, a Northern Virginia company (I own no stock--wish I’d bought it in 2002...), is making Virginia a key player in the space program. Built in Virginia, the company’s Taurus II Medium-Lift Launch Vehicle (um,rocket) while lift its Cygnus Maneuvering Spacecraft into orbit from the MId-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, perhaps as soon as 2010, the year the shuttle program will end.

The NASA facility on Wallops Island is just across a little inlet from Chincoteague, off Rte. 13 on the Eastern Shore. The beach you see behind the rocket (which is an illustration) is not Chincoteague, but south of it.



Over 15,000 rockets have been launched from Wallops since 1945, but until the state of Virginia agreed to fund necesssary improvements, the launch of larger rockets was not feasible.

In the illustration below, the Cygnus Maneuvering Spacecraft, carrying one of the Interchangeable Cargo Modules, approaches the international space station.



The company plans to be launching 4 to 6 of the Taurus II rockets a year from Wallops, including commercial satellites as well as theh NASA flights.

None of this involves manned missions, though. NASA is returning to the space module concept--using a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) called Orion, to be launched by the Ares I rocket--for probable lunar missions, perhaps around 2015. Probably won't be launching from Virginia....

Orbital Sciences to develop space station cargo ship (space.newscientist.com, 2/20/2008)

Orbital Sciences adds 125 jobs in Virginia (Washington Business Journal, 6/9/2008)

Deal for resupply rockets seen as chance for Wallops Island site to take off (The Virginian-Pilot, 6/10/2008)