NASA · Wallops Island, Virginia, United States
Launch Pads
2 orbital (Pad 0A Antares, Pad 0B Minotaur-C)as of [1]Annual Launches
6–10as of [1]Includes Antares/Cygnus cargo + sounding rocket campaignsMax Payload (LEO)
8,000 kg to LEO (Antares 230+)as of [1]Established
1945
Wallops Flight Facility is NASA's oldest launch range, originally established for aeronautics research. Located on Virginia's Eastern Shore, it serves as the launch site for Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket carrying Cygnus cargo to the ISS, and Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from LC-2. It also supports a high volume of sounding rocket missions.
| Region | North America |
| Country | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Coordinates | 37.9402° N, -75.4664° E |
| Ownership | Public–Private |
| Parent Entity | NASA Goddard / Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (Virginia Space) |
| Regulatory Regime | NASA range + FAA-AST Part 450 commercial license under MARS operating agreement |
| Latitude Advantage | 37.9°N — moderate easterly Atlantic boost; usable for ISS-inclination LEO and mid-inclination missions but less efficient than KSC/CCSFS for equatorial GTO. |
| Azimuth Range | 37°–115° (LEO, ISS, mid-inclination) |
| Employees | ~1,000 (NASA + Virginia Space + tenants) |
| Website | https://www.nasa.gov/wallops/ |
Anchor Tenants
Active Users
Strategic Value
Only U.S. East Coast spaceport outside the Cape that can fly orbital missions, and the only home for Antares/Cygnus ISS resupply. Rocket Lab's HASTE program turned Wallops into the de-facto U.S. hypersonic test range, a fast-growing DoD line item.
Recent Activity
Antares 330 (Firefly-built first stage) integration ongoing for return-to-flight after Russian/Ukrainian engine supply cutoff; HASTE cadence ramped through 2025.
2026
Antares 330 first flight with Firefly-built first stage
2026
Rocket Lab Neutron debut from Wallops LC-3
2027
Continued HASTE hypersonic flight-test cadence ramp