Sen. Kaine tours site of catastrophic rocket explosion

Six weeks after a catastrophic rocket explosion on Virginia’s Wallops Island, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine toured the damaged site and touted $20 million in federal funds for the private space facility.

The funds should help “speed along” the repairs from an Oct. 28 crash, Kaine (D-Va.) said Wednesday, noting that the launchpad run by Orbital Sciences Corp. “survived remarkably well.”

Repairing the site — and public confidence in the commercial space industry — is of particular interest to Kaine. He helped bring Orbital to the Eastern Shore while governor of Virginia, and he credits the site with enlivening a struggling regional economy.

About a half-dozen workers were in the process of what an official described as “surgical demolition” of the launch system during Kaine’s visit. Two of the four lightning rods that border the launchpad had been knocked out; signs and grass around the site were burnt black. Wearing hard hats, Kaine and state Sen. Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. (D) took a short tour of the aftermath with officials and engineers, who emphasized the lack of major damage from debris.

“This is one of the best-kept secrets in Virginia,” Kaine said afterward from the ramp of the launchpad. He noted that “vastly more rockets have been shot out of Wallops Island” than from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California or Kennedy Space Center in Florida, although unmanned. “It’s becoming a deeper and deeper part of the economy.”

Kaine defended the inclusion of funds for a private enterprise in the federal budget, saying that Orbital’s mission is a national one. The rocket that exploded had food, water and other supplies that were headed for the International Space Station, part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA. The company intends to complete that contract with four more launches; it will start testing late next year with a rocket built by a veteran NASA contractor.

“The missions that are flown from here are very necessary,” Kaine said.

Repair costs for the $120 million launchpad were estimated to cost up to $20 million, but other parts of the facility will need refurbishing and repair.

The failure, attributed to a faulty engine, raised questions about the company’s use of decades-old Russian rocket engines mothballed during the Cold War. The company is purchasing new Russian engines to replace them, according to Aviation Week.

It also reignited debate over the Obama administration’s decision to cede most space travel to private companies. The Federal Aviation Administration is tasked with overseeing a fast-growing industry with few rigid guidelines.

Kaine argued that the system worked Oct. 28, with the coordination between NASA, Orbital and firefighters as well as the structural soundness of the site helping to contain the damage.

“What was it like?” he asked one of those firefighters, who joined the group at the launchpad Wednesday. The senator was in the middle of votes at the U.S. Capitol at the time.

“Uh, bright,” the firefighter responded.

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