Chandler rocket maker expanding with Taurus
East Valley Times
“An expansion project for Orbital Sciences Corp. in Chandler will give the company more room to develop and manufacture a new, more powerful rocket to supply the international space station and launch other payloads for commercial and government customers.
“The medium-class rocket, called the Taurus II, is three times bigger than the biggest launch vehicle offered by Orbital today and will be the key to the company’s growth, said David W. Thompson, chairman and chief executive of the Dulles, Va.-based company.”
Drilling Offshore Virginia May Hurt Launches
Dow Jones Newswire
“The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is protesting a proposal to lease offshore Virginia for oil and natural gas development over concerns that drilling would interfere with rockets’ flight patterns.
“NASA fears that giant platforms would interfere with low-altitude suborbital rockets or make missile launchings from its Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. much more difficult, Keith Koehler, a NASA spokesman, told Dow Jones Newswires.”
Orbital Sciences Corporation will break ground on a new launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at a ceremony on October 6, according to published reports.
The new launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia will support Orbital’s new Taurus II launch vehicle, which the company is developing under NASA’s COTS program. The rocket is designed to carry cargo and possibly crews to the International Space Station.
The space agency is funding two COTS programs. A California-based company, SpaceX, is building the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX will launch the rocket from a new complex on Cape Canaveral.
After months of weighing competing bids, Orbital Science Corporation has decided to launch its new Taurus II rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, instead of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Virginia Gov. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine made the announcement on Monday, ending months of uncertainty. The rocket will be launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
Orbital Sciences, based in Reston, Virginia, is developing the Taurus II rocket to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s COTS program. It will serve as an alternative to the space shuttle, which is due to be retired in 2010.
NASA’s decision to award the COTS contract to Orbital set off a competition between the two American states, which are promoting rival launch facilities. The decision is a setback for Florida, which is hoping to attract commercial companies in order to offset job losses resulting from the space shuttle’s retirement.
Deal for resupply rockets seen as chance for Wallops Island site to take off
Virginia Pilot
Wallops Spaceport wins $45M project
The Daily Times
Orbital Sciences chooses VA over FLA
Orlando Sentinel
Orbital Sciences Corporation shares rose in the wake of NASA’s decision to award the Dulles, Virginia-based company a $170 million contract under its COTS program.
One analyst has predicted the contract could boost company income by 25 percent, potentially boosting earnings per share by about $6.
The COTS program is designed to encourage the development of commercial cargo and crew delivery vehicles for the International Space Station. Orbital plans to develop its Taurus II rocket, which would be launched from Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital Sciences joins SpaceX of El Segundo, California in the COTS competition.
NASA’s decision to award $170 million in COTS funding to Orbital Sciences Corporation could prove to be a big boost to Virginia’s efforts to establish a commercial spaceport on Wallops Island.
The Dulles, Virginia-based company is leaning toward working with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and the state’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport to demonstrate its new Taurus II rocket by 2010. If the program is successful, it could make Virginia’s Eastern Shore a major commercial space center.
“This is a real opportunity to see that happen. It’s significant,” said Billie Reed, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority.
The Virginian-Pilot has more on the Virginia angle. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports that although Orbital Sciences is leaning toward launching out of its home state, it has not closed the door on flights from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. KSC officials recently announced they were open to allowing private companies to build launch sites at the facility.
