Deal reached to insure Wallops Island launch pad

After a massive explosion on a Wallops Island launch pad last October, the state of Virginia is now covered in case it were to happen again.

State officials and Orbital Sciences have apparently agreed to insure the state-owned launch pad at Wallops island for future launches.

After the explosion state officials said they were stunned to realize that they were on the hook for the repair cost estimated at around $15,000,000.

Orbital, NASA and the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority said Thursday, they would evenly split the repair costs.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe applauds the agreement, saying “Now we have a solid foundation. Tax payers are protected. We have an agreement with our private sector partner, where they can make money and it can be profitable for them. Because if they’re not making money, they’re not going to invest, and they’re not going to launch rockets.”

Also announced Thursday, a separate agreement with NASA for the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority to build a  3,000-foot Unmanned Aircraft Systems runway at Wallops Island.  Construction will apparently begin this fall with the first flight operations sometime in 2016.