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 The Oct. 28, 2014 accident at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
(MARS), located on Wallops Island, Virginia, caused about $20
million in damages to the state-owned launch pad.Orbital was
launching its third Antares rocket for NASA under a $1.9 billion
contract to fly cargo to the International Space Station.
Orbital had insurance to cover its losses at Wallops, as well as
damage to federal property and other entities as required by the
Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial launches
in the United States. That insurance, however, does not cover the
MARS pad owned by Virginia, according to spokespeople for the
company and the FAA.
“We looked at insurance for the pad, but the coverage was inadequate
to our needs, and to the extent it was available, was exorbitantly
costly,” MARS Executive Director Dale Nash wrote in an email.
 To cover the repair costs, Virginia has turned to U.S. taxpayers,
successfully lobbying for a $20 million addition to NASA’s 2015
budget as part of the Omnibus spending bill Congress passed and
President Obama signed in December.
Those funds, however, have not yet been released, said NASA
spokesman Allard Beutel.
Nash confirmed reports that the Virginia Commercial Space Flight
Authority, which oversees the spaceport, will be out of money by the
end of the month for repair work.
“Cleanup and repairs have continued within the limits of the
operating budget," Nash said. "Major purchases and reconstruction
tasks are … ready to proceed once the monies appropriated by
Congress are released."
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Virginia spent about $100 million to build its launch site, which is
located on land leased from NASA.
Meanwhile, Orbital said it is working with NASA and Virginia to come
to an agreement on funding launch pad repairs.
“We are optimistic that we are nearing a path forward that is
agreeable to all parties and will enable work to continue without
disruption,” said Orbital spokesman Barry Beneski.
(Editing by Andrew Hay)
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