Virginia based Orbital Sciences Corp.
chose nearby Wallops Island to develop and test its new spacecraft, Taurus
II. The rocket is intended to deliver cargo to the International
Space Station. If the test mission is successful and NASA chooses
Orbital to deliver cargo to the space station, future missions could
originate from Wallops as soon as 2011. The project will result in 125
new jobs, with approximately 50 at Wallops. Approximately
one-third of the Wallops Flight Facility employees reside in Maryland.