THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
The explosion Monday of a commercial rocket launched from the Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore was a disappointment felt coast to coast, but the failed launch was more a beginning than an end.
Of the three U.S. launch bases - Wallops; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; and Vandenberg AFB in California - only Wallops is in the right spot to shoot rockets into equatorial orbit without expensive, fuel-burning course corrections. Also, Wallops is the only one of the three bases not controlled by the military, so launches there should involve fewer miles of red tape and shorter waits for launch dates.
The U.S. Department of Transportation projects 12 to 14 East Coast commercial launches every year for 10 years, beginning in 1997, assuming suitable rockets are found.
Simple math says half the East Coast launching sites are in Virginia. If four to six of the annual East Coast launches were from Wallops Island, roughly 300 good-paying jobs would be created, with $30 million to $60 million in investments by corporations, said Billie Reed, an Old Dominion University assistant professor who is playing a key role in developing the spaceport.
Although Monday's explosion was the fourth consecutive commercial launch failure in the United States, Reed said, the need for commercial space launches is growing. ``They will fix the problems,'' he said. If not one company, then another. The risks are sky-high, but the rewards could be higher.
The Eastern Shore is economically depressed, so any jobs and economic development are doubly welcome.
Some of the jobs could go to Maryland, eight miles to the north, or to Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads, Reed said.
Last July, Gov. George Allen, ever eager to spur economical development, appointed the first Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority to help develop the spaceport. ``Virginia is open for business,'' he said, ``not only on the land and sea, but in the air as well.''
The space authority's day-to-day business is being handled by ODU's Center for Commercial Space Infrastructure, of which Reed is the associate director.
In the past year, Virginia has attracted two huge computer-chip plants and a computer manufacturer. The state's high-tech success should continue with the development of a thriving spaceport, and the launches should become tourist attractions.
High-tech businesses breed more high-tech businesses nearby.
The 21st century may be very good to Virginia.
The explosion Monday of a commercial rocket launched from the Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore was a disappointment felt coast to coast, but the failed launch was more a beginning than an end.
Of the three U.S. launch bases - Wallops; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; and Vandenberg AFB in California - only Wallops is in the right spot to shoot rockets into equatorial orbit without expensive, fuel-burning course corrections. Also, Wallops is the only one of the three bases not controlled by the military, so launches there should involve fewer miles of red tape and shorter waits for launch dates.
The U.S. Department of Transportation projects 12 to 14 East Coast commercial launches every year for 10 years, beginning in 1997, assuming suitable rockets are found.
Simple math says half the East Coast launching sites are in Virginia. If four to six of the annual East Coast launches were from Wallops Island, roughly 300 good-paying jobs would be created, with $30 million to $60 million in investments by corporations, said Billie Reed, an Old Dominion University assistant professor who is playing a key role in developing the spaceport.
Although Monday's explosion was the fourth consecutive commercial launch failure in the United States, Reed said, the need for commercial space launches is growing. ``They will fix the problems,'' he said. If not one company, then another. The risks are sky-high, but the rewards could be higher.
The Eastern Shore is economically depressed, so any jobs and economic development are doubly welcome.
Some of the jobs could go to Maryland, eight miles to the north, or to Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads, Reed said.
Last July, Gov. George Allen, ever eager to spur economic development, appointed the first Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority to help develop the spaceport. ``Virginia is open for business,'' he said, ``not only on the land and sea, but in the air as well.''
The space authority's day-to-day business is being handled by ODU's Center for Commercial Space Infrastructure, of which Reed is the associate director.
In the past year, Virginia has attracted two huge computer-chip plants and a computer manufacturer. The state's high-tech success should continue with the development of a thriving spaceport (and the launches should become tourist attractions).
Because high-tech businesses breed more high-tech businesses nearby, the 21st century may be very good to Virginia. by CNB