PlanetSpace May Contest NASA Award to Orbital Sciences Corporation

Chicago-based PlanetSpace may contest the $1.9 billion dollar NASA contract award to Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation to provide re-supply to the International Space Station from a Virginia commercial spaceport, The Wall Street Jorunal reports.

Both Virginia and Maryland are expecting significant economic development benefits from the NASA contract to Orbital Sciences Corporation. Virginia is investing $26-million in a new spaceport launch pad and related infrastructure and waiving state income tax on the NASA COTS contract this year. The Virginia and Maryland Congressional delegations are now paying much more attention to the NASA contract deal which may cause pause among Boeing, LockMart, and ATK in the end as how to proceed from here.

Orbital Sciences will launch the new Taurus-2 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located on Wallops Island, VA. with the first test flight tentatively set for late 2010.