Thu, Mar 24, 2011
Horizontal Integration Facility Officially Opened
NASA ushered in a new era of space exploration at its Wallops
Flight Facility in Virginia on Tuesday with a ribbon cutting
ceremony opening the new Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF). The
HIF will support medium-class mission capabilities. The first
customer to use the facility will be Orbital Sciences Corp. of
Dulles, VA, with its Taurus II launch vehicle.
"With this state-of-the-art building, NASA demonstrates its
commitment to the success of the nation's commercial launch
industry," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "We have already
seen some fantastic progress and are looking forward to more this
year. Wallops, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and Orbital have
been working together to bring the Taurus II vehicle to the launch
pad this coming fall under tough mission schedules. That effort is
impressive and a model we should emulate whenever possible."
Orbital will conduct missions for NASA under the agency's
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services project and Commercial
Resupply Services contract. Integration of the Taurus II at the new
facility will begin this month, with the first launch expected
later this year.
"Today is about bringing jobs, jobs and more jobs to the Lower
Shore -- jobs for today and jobs for tomorrow," said Sen. Barbara
A. Mikulski, chairwoman of the Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice
and Science, which funds NASA. "I'm so happy to see our federal
facilities like Wallops bringing the innovation economy to the
community with this world-class international launch site that will
soon launch science missions and take cargo to the International
Space Station."
"The Horizontal Integration Facility is a vital part of our
operation at the Wallops Flight Facility," said Dave Thompson,
chairman and CEO of Orbital Sciences Corp. "The capability it
provides to process two Taurus II vehicles simultaneously puts us
in an excellent position to support NASA with missions to the
International Space Station."
The facility is 250 feet long, 150 wide and 60 feet high. Its
bay provides dual horizontal processing with 70-and 50-ton bridge
cranes. Built in approximately 16 months, the HIF has adjacent
laboratory and warehouse space. Its safety features include a
deluge fire suppression system and a blast-attenuating wall.
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