One of the first satellite launches in the United States took place at Wallops Island, Virginia on July 4, 1945. For nearly 20 years, Wallops Island was the base for rocket pioneers and engineers working on space programs. Their work produced the Mercury and Gemini missions, followed by a series of spectacular Apollo moon landings.

Though activity was dormant for many years, funding in 1995 by Old Dominion University and CIT formally created the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority and began laying the groundwork for a modern commercial launch facility.

On December 16, 2006, the Virginia Space Flight Center, the state’s first commercial spaceport, successfully launched its first commercial rocket, reinvigorating the innovation and energy that once inhabited the island and spawning a 21st century industry for the Commonwealth.

The Minotaur rocket, carrying a NASA experiment and an Air Force satellite, takes off in the inaugural launch at the Virginia Spaceport.