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The advanced 8-ton payload class Neutron launch vehicle is designed to transform space access by delivering reliable and cost-effective launch services for satellite mega-constellations, deep space missions and human spaceflight. Video / Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab has revealed the location for the facility that will test the "Archimedes" engine for its Neutron rocket, due to launch for the first time in 2024.
The Kiwi-American company says it will build its 1 million square foot (93,000sq m) Archimedes Test Complex within Nasa's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Rocket Lab has taken a 10-year lease on the space, with an option to renew for another 10.
Founder and CEO Peter Beck said the Mississippi deal would help fast-track Neutron development.
Rocket Lab originally planned to launch a single Neutron in 2024, then build up its fleet of the crew-cable, reusable rockets over time.
But after Russia's invasion of Ukraine saw the Soyuz sidelined, the US Government needs more options for getting cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station - and Beck said his company was open to accelerating its Neutron plans.
There was no update on that front today as Rocket Lab hosted an investor day in New York - but a presentation did feature a Thunderbirds Are Go-style artist's rendition of three Neutrons on the launch complex that will be built at Nasa's Wallops Island facility in Virginia.
Beck told investors today that his firm would "stand up" its Neutron production plant and mission control in the US state within months.
"The intention is to have key parts of the production complex built this year," a Rocket Lab spokeswoman said in follow-up comments.
Investors were shown images of giant moulds for various Neutron components already taking shape.
And Beck teased a picture of a Rocket Lab-branded space capsule - a possible future development.
The Neutron will be capable of either ferrying crew to the International Space Station, should a capsule go ahead, or lifting a 13,000kg payload into low-Earth orbit; a substantial upgrade on the Electron's 320kg that will put it in direct competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX).
Rocket Lab's Mississippi move drew its biggest clutch of politicians since April when it broke ground on its Virginia complex, which is underpinned by US$45 million ($76m) in grants from the state.
US Senator Roger Wicker said, "Rocket Lab will bring quality jobs and technology to Mississippi for years to come."
Join the club, Senator. Beck's company is expanding far and wide.
Rocket Lab is also expanding in New Mexico, acquiring SolAero and its 425 staff for US$80 million ($127m) in a deal that closed earlier this year. earlier this year. SolAero made the panels that power Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope, and, last month under its new ownership, won a contract to supply radiation-hardened solar panels for a planned upgrade to the US military's space-based missile defence system.
The firm is also expanding in Colorado, where last October it bought Advanced Solutions, a maker of flight control and navigation software, for US$45m.
Rocket Lab is in the process of hiring 76 new staff at various locations across North America, including its Long beach, California facility that houses its corporate headquarters and production plant for its Electron rocket's Rutherford engines.
The firm has had a majority of its staff in the US since its SolAero takeover, but is also expanding its New Zealand complement and operations.
Rocket Lab currently has around 600 staff locally (of a total headcount of around 1400) and is looking to hire another 110 by year's end.
It has also expanded with a new 2200sq m R&D facility and satellite component manufacturing plant in Auckland after taking over buildings neighbouring its Mt Wellington Electron assembly and mission control centre.
Rocket Lab also recently opened Pad B at Mahia, which allows it to stage back-to-back missions from NZ.
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