Short name LP-0 First launch 23 October 1995 Status Active Operator NASA | Status Repaired, Active Last launch 17 October 2016 Launch pad 2 Total launches 12 | |
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Associated rockets Conestoga
Antares (active) Launch site Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (Wallops Flight Facility) | ||
Launch Pad 0, Pad 0 or LP-0, also known as Launch Complex 0, Launch Area 0 or LA-0, is a launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia in the United States. MARS is located adjacent to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), which ran the launch complex until 2003. WFF continues to provide various support services to MARS launches under contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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The launch complex consists of two individual launch pads, LP-0A and LP-0B.
Pad 0AEdit
LP-0A was first built for the failed Conestoga rocket program. The original launch tower was subsequently demolished in September 2008. A new pad facility was built from 2009-2011 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
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. By May 2015, estimates had been revised down to around $13 million. At that time, NASA had committed $5 million, Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority committed $3 million and Orbital ATK $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 $2 million. Orbital's next launch from the facility is planned for March 2016. On September 30, 2015, the spaceport announced repairs on pad 0A had been completed.
Pad 0BEdit
LP-0B became operational in 1999, and was subsequently upgraded in 2003 with the construction of a mobile service tower, which was completed in 2004. It is active, and is currently used by Minotaur rockets. The first launch from LP-0B was of a Minotaur I in December 2006, and was the first launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.