A Virginia-owned launch pad damaged by an Orbital ATK rocket explosion is the center of a dispute about who should pick up the bill, according to officials. The Oct. 28 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 ATK was launching its Antares rocket for NASA under a $1.9 billion contract to fly cargo to the International Space Station. While Orbital ATK had insurance to cover Wallops and damage to the federal property, it does not cover the MARS pad owned by Virginia.
