Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

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An areal view of the launch pads at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and NASA's Wallops Flight Facility

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.

[edit] Background

In July 2003, Governors Ehrlich of Maryland and Mark Warner of Virginia signed an agreement that directed the Secretary of Commerce and Trade of Virginia and the Secretary of Business and Economic Development of Maryland to form a working group to develop a concept and implementation plan for joint governance, operation and administration of the commercial spaceport at Wallops Island. The spaceport, then known as the Virginia Space Flight Center, had been developed, with a combination of federal, state and private sector funding, by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA).

[edit] Launch history

The first rocket to be launched from MARS was an Orbital Sciences Minotaur, at 12:00 GMT on 16 December 2006, with two spacecraft, TacSat-2 for the US Air Force, and GeneSat-1 for NASA.

Launch	Date (UTC)	Vehicle	Payload	Launch pad	Result
1	December 16, 2006 12:00	Minotaur	TacSat-2 / GeneSat-1	Pad 0B	Success
2	April 24, 2007 6:48	Minotaur	NFIRE	Pad 0B	Success
Scheduled launches
	2008	ATK ALV X-1	Hy-BoLT and SOAREX VI
	June 25, 2008	Minotaur I	TacSat-3

Note: Times of scheduled launches from the MARS SpacePort can be changed on very short notice. Launches maybe canceled or postponed for many reasons, including weather or technical problems. To check launch schedule call the NASA Wallops Flight Facility at 757-824-2050.