Wallops Flight Facility: launch schedule & viewing guide

Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore is NASA's primary launch site for smaller orbital and suborbital missions. Operated since the late 1940s, it supports Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket for ISS resupply missions as well as sounding rockets, small satellite launches, and scientific balloon campaigns.

Location

Virginia, USA

Operator

NASA

Coordinates

37.94, -75.47

Upcoming launches from Wallops

• Firefly Alpha Block 2 | INCUS Firefly Aerospace · Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA In 23 weeks
• Neutron | Maiden Flight Rocket Lab · Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA In 32 weeks
• Electron | 6x HawkEye 360 Rocket Lab · Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA In 32 weeks

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About Wallops

Wallops Island has been a testing and launch site since 1945, originally used for aeronautical research. It is one of the oldest continuously operated launch sites in the world. The facility supports a wide variety of vehicles — from small sounding rockets that reach suborbital altitudes to Antares medium-lift rockets carrying Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages operations at Wallops.

The mid-Atlantic location and relatively modest launch cadence compared to Florida or California make Wallops launches somewhat rarer events, but they attract significant attention from launch watchers throughout the northeastern United States. Launches from Wallops are visible from Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and sometimes as far north as New England, making them accessible to tens of millions of potential observers.

Rockets: Antares, Minotaur, Terrier sounding rockets, Rocket Lab Electron.

Launch operators: NASA, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, Virginia Space.

Watching a launch near Wallops

Assateague Island and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, just across the water from the facility, provide outstanding public viewing with unobstructed sightlines. The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops occasionally offers viewing access for certain launches. Launches from Wallops are also widely visible up the East Coast: on clear nights the rocket is often seen from Ocean City, Maryland, and further north within minutes of liftoff.

Best nearby towns to watch from

• Chincoteague, VA — about 5 mi away; launches appear toward the west.
• Wallops Island, VA — about 7 mi away; launches appear toward the northwest.
• Pocomoke City, MD — about 11 mi away; launches appear toward the south-southeast.
• Onancock, VA — about 22 mi away; launches appear toward the northeast.
• Berlin, MD — about 29 mi away; launches appear toward the south-southwest.
• Salisbury, MD — about 30 mi away; launches appear toward the south-southeast.