THE YEAR 2011 has been declared the “Year of the Cosmonaut” by the Russian government, which includes the 50th anniversary of the orbital flight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in April. But 2011 also will be recognized as the “Year of the Ukrainian Rocket Engineer” — at least on Wallops Island.
Several Ukrainian national rocket engineers will be working here to help build the first stage of the new Taurus-2 booster rocket, which is set to take flight from Wallops Island next April. The internationally made Taurus-2 with the Cygnus spacecraft will transport cargo to the orbiting International Space Station. It should be the first of many launches.
Orbiting commercial payloads will become a feat of international cooperation and global business acumen. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles has built an international team of suppliers being integrated into one of the more capable mid-sized booster rocket producersin the world today. The team consists of Americans, Ukrainians, Russians, Italians, Canadians, Spaniards, French, The Dutch, Germans and Japanese.
The surrealism associated with Ukrainian rocket engineers working in cooperation with U.S. space technology integrators must give pause to some seasoned Eastern Shore space-launch observers. Orbit-bound rockets launching from Virginia; numerous foreign nationals on a NASA space launch facility; and operations that continue for years are unexpected to most Virginians and all Americans.
It’s fitting that an international launch team is sending cargo to the International Space Station from Virginia. The effort is under way at one of the first commercial licensed orbital spaceports within the United States. Governors of Virginia have had the vision to seek to increase commercial space launch activity for strong economic benefits.
Hundreds of jobs have and are being created by the $1.9 billion commercial space launch project, and many of those are within Virginia. It is a unique beginning expected to yield more direct and indirect benefit to citizens of the region, to Virginia and Maryland, and to the nation as a whole.
The business operations being undertaken at Wallops Island are symbolic of the new commercial space age of the 21st century. We are rapidly becoming a world without borders in the international quest to place and support humans in orbit.
The multicultural launch team taking root at Wallops Island is space technology’s future, both on the ground and in orbit. The men and women working the Taurus-2 launch campaign are setting a new precedent.
“Space Island” is the NewSpace moniker for the pads at Wallops. It will launch cargo, and one day people, to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and spacecraft and cargo to the moon and beyond. It is largely the vision and determination of Billie Reed, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, and his associates.
The United States has suffered the loss of a significant measure of the global market for commercial space launch payloads. The effort now under way at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport will be a step toward the recovery of American space market share. Because of cumbersome export controls and foreign xenophobia associated with potential technology transfer, the Wallops Island effort is significant in the annals of space hardware development.
The success of Orbital Sciences Corp. in making the sum of the international parts greater than the Taurus-2 rocket will certainly lead to an even grander set of opportunities ahead for space commerce entrepreneurs and space exploration enthusiasts alike.
Several Ukrainian national rocket engineers will be working here to help build the first stage of the new Taurus-2 booster rocket, which is set to take flight from Wallops Island next April. The internationally made Taurus-2 with the Cygnus spacecraft will transport cargo to the orbiting International Space Station. It should be the first of many launches.
Orbiting commercial payloads will become a feat of international cooperation and global business acumen. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles has built an international team of suppliers being integrated into one of the more capable mid-sized booster rocket producers
The surrealism associated with Ukrainian rocket engineers working in cooperation with U.S. space technology integrators must give pause to some seasoned Eastern Shore space-launch observers. Orbit-bound rockets launching from Virginia; numerous foreign nationals on a NASA space launch facility; and operations that continue for years are unexpected to most Virginians and all Americans.
It’s fitting that an international launch team is sending cargo to the International Space Station from Virginia. The effort is under way at one of the first commercial licensed orbital spaceports within the United States. Governors of Virginia have had the vision to seek to increase commercial space launch activity for strong economic benefits.
Hundreds of jobs have and are being created by the $1.9 billion commercial space launch project, and many of those are within Virginia. It is a unique beginning expected to yield more direct and indirect benefit to citizens of the region, to Virginia and Maryland, and to the nation as a whole.
The business operations being undertaken at Wallops Island are symbolic of the new commercial space age of the 21st century. We are rapidly becoming a world without borders in the international quest to place and support humans in orbit.
The multicultural launch team taking root at Wallops Island is space technology’s future, both on the ground and in orbit. The men and women working the Taurus-2 launch campaign are setting a new precedent.
“Space Island” is the NewSpace moniker for the pads at Wallops. It will launch cargo, and one day people, to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and spacecraft and cargo to the moon and beyond. It is largely the vision and determination of Billie Reed, executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, and his associates.
The United States has suffered the loss of a significant measure of the global market for commercial space launch payloads. The effort now under way at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport will be a step toward the recovery of American space market share. Because of cumbersome export controls and foreign xenophobia associated with potential technology transfer, the Wallops Island effort is significant in the annals of space hardware development.
The success of Orbital Sciences Corp. in making the sum of the international parts greater than the Taurus-2 rocket will certainly lead to an even grander set of opportunities ahead for space commerce entrepreneurs and space exploration enthusiasts alike.
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