The pad was reinforced with pilings and features a liquid fueling facility, flame trench, and deluge system for cooling and sound suppression. The pad is capable of supporting a gross liftoff weight of 453.6 metric tons (1,000,000 lb) and can launch payloads of up to 5,035 kilograms (11,100 lb) into low Earth orbit.[7]
On October 28, 2014, an Orbital Systems Antares rocket, flying as mission Cygnus CRS Orb-3, crashed 6 seconds after takeoff and appeared to have done significant damage to the launch pad itself. On October 29, 2014, teams of investigators began examining debris at the crash site.[8] By May 2015, estimates had been revised down to around US$13 million. At that time, NASA had committed US$5 million, Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority committed US$3 million and Orbital ATK US$3 million. Repairs were underway and planned to be completed by September 2015, but repairs were only funded up to August with Virginia CSFA requesting that Orbital provide the remaining US$2 million. On September 30, 2015, the spaceport announced repairs on pad 0A had been completed.[9] The launch pad resumed flight operations with the Cygnus CRS OA-5 mission on October 17, 2016.[10]
In March 2021, Rocket Lab announced that they would launch their upcoming medium-lift launch vehicle Neutron from LP-0A,[11] with the initial launch planned for as early as 2024.[12] However, Rocket Lab later opted to construct their own Neutron launch site south of Pad 0B.
Antares will continue flights from Pad 0A indefinitely, as Northrop Grumman transitions from the 200-series to the 300-series of the rocket. Said transition will require moderate renovations to the pad and surrounding facilities in order to support the upgrade rocket's larger first stage.[13]
Pad 0B hosted the Minotaur V launch of the LADEE lunar orbiter in 2013, becoming the first (and so far only) beyond-Earth mission to launch from Wallops.
On October 19, 2017, Vector Launch announced plans to conduct three launches from near Pad 0B with its then-in-development Vector-R small satellite launch vehicle over the subsequent two years, with an option for five additional launches.[26] However, following the company's bankruptcy and restructuring, plans for these launches are unlikely.
In October 2018, Rocket Lab announced that it had selected Mid-Atlantic as its second launch site (the launch site in Mahia had at the time 2 pads, so this was Rocket Lab's third launch pad) called Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) or Launch Pad 0C (located at 37°50′00″N75°29′18″W / 37.833266°N 75.4882304°W / 37.833266; -75.4882304 (Wallops Island Launch Complex-2)). The new launch pad is near Pad 0A (and shares some systems with Pad 0A).[30][31][32][33] Rockets launched from LC-2 are integrated at Rocket Lab's integration facility, located just a few miles away from the pad. They are transported to the pad and integrated onto the strongback.[34]
In December 2019, construction was completed and Rocket Lab inaugurated Launch Complex 2 at Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.[30] In April 2020, Rocket Lab performed a Wet Dress Rehearsal with an Electron rocket on the pad.[32]
The first launch from LC-2 successfully occurred on January 24, 2023. An Electron rocket carried three satellites to orbit in a mission named "Virginia is for Launch Lovers".[35][1][36]
Chart excludes the only launch of Conestoga from pad 0A in 1995; the launch attempted to put a satellite into orbit but was unsuccessful. Chart also excludes the suborbital launch of ALV X-1 on 22 August 2008 from pad 0B.
^ ab"Facility Access Plan"(PDF). Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). p. 1.2.2. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
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