Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0
Launch Pad 0 (LP-0), also known as Launch Complex 0 (LC-0),[2] or Launch Area 0 (LA-0)[3], is a launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia, in the United States.[2] MARS is located right next to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), which had run the launch complex until 2003.[4] WFF still provides support services to MARS launches under a contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia.[4]
Launch site
LP-0
32
3
Active
Active
19
23 October 1995
Conestoga-1620 / Meteor
2 August 2023
Antares 230+ / Cygnus NG-19
Conestoga (retired)
Antares (active)
Firefly Alpha (Planned)
MLV (Planned)
Active
9
16 December 2006
Minotaur I / TacSat 2, GeneSat
15 June 2021
Minotaur I / NROL-111
- Minotaur I (active)
- ALV (retired)
- Minotaur IV (active)
- Minotaur V (active)
Active
4
24 January 2023[1]
Electron / HawkEye 360 Cluster 6
21 March 2024
Electron / Live and Let Fly (NROL-123)
The launch complex consists of three individual launch pads, LP-0A, LP-0B, and LP-0C, referred to by Rocket Lab as Launch Complex-2 (LC-2)[5].
Launch Pads[edit]
Pad 0A[edit]
LP-0A (located at 37°50′02″N 75°29′16″W / 37.833959°N 75.4878331°W) was first built for the failed Conestoga rocket program.[6] The original launch tower was subsequently demolished in September 2008. A new pad facility was built from 2009 to 2011 for Orbital Sciences Taurus II, now renamed Antares. Pad modifications for Antares included the construction of a Horizontal Integration Facility for launcher/payload mating and a wheeled transporter/erector that will roll out and erect the rocket on its launch pad about 24 hours prior to launch. The first launch of Antares occurred on April 21, 2013.
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]