WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (AP) -- There isn't much to see yet at the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
But promoters say that's going to change soon. They envision the
commercial spaceflight center as "the Cape Canaveral of the
North."
The Wallops Island facility is already stealing business and
jobs from Cape Canaveral. Supply missions to the International
Space Station are in the works. And a new $10 million rocket
assembly building is soon to go up near a new launch pad.
Maryland and Virginia, which operate the spaceport together, are
touting its cut-rate location. It provides a shorter trip to the
space station, which means lower bills for rocket fuel. Insurance
costs less, too, because flights go almost entirely over water.