- Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger and
Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski today cut the ribbon at
the Middle River, Maryland facility that will become Rocket Lab’s
Space Structures Complex.
- Designed to serve growing customer demand for composite
products, the complex will also support Neutron launch vehicle
development and supply.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the
Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today
announced the expansion of its space systems business with a
dedicated production and development complex designed to deliver a
comprehensive suite of advanced composite products for the space
industry and to further vertically integrate supply for the
Company’s internal needs across launch and space systems.
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Ribbon cutting for Rocket Lab's Space
Structures Complex in Middle River, MD. (Photo: Business Wire)
To support its growing composite product line, Rocket Lab is
establishing a Space Structures Complex in Middle River, Maryland,
which will support the development and manufacture of carbon
composite spacecraft buses, structural panels and assemblies,
satellite dispensers, aerostructures and heat shields, composite
overwrap pressure vessels, solar panel substrates, launch vehicle
structures and more. The site will also play a role in the
development and long-term supply of carbon composite structures for
Rocket Lab’s new medium lift launch vehicle, Neutron.
Rocket Lab’s Space Structures Complex will be established in the
113,000 square foot former Lockheed Martin Vertical Launch Building
in Middle River, which has been home to aerospace manufacturing
since 1929.
The new complex builds on Rocket Lab’s deep heritage in advanced
composite manufacturing, including the development of Electron, the
world’s first carbon composite orbital launch vehicle, as well as
the Company’s spacecraft buses, including the Photon Lunar
spacecraft that delivered the CAPSTONE satellite to the Moon’s
orbit for NASA in 2022. Rocket Lab also currently manufactures and
launches its in-house designed carbon composite Maxwell satellite
dispensers, as well as advanced solar array substrates. Expanding
on these products, Rocket Lab’s new composite offering spans design
and engineering, tooling and molds, manufacturing, assembly and
testing for space applications.
“Rocket Lab is a world leader in advanced composites through our
launch and spacecraft programs, so this is a natural progression as
we continue growing our space systems offering,” said Rocket Lab
founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “We have the experienced team,
manufacturing and test equipment, established supply chain, and
heritage to deliver reliable composite products to the space
industry at scale, and because we’re deeply vertically integrated,
we can do it fast and at competitive prices. We’re incredibly
excited to bring advanced Rocket Lab composite products to market
for our customers. We’re grateful for the support from the State of
Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland Department of Commerce,
Governor Wes Moore, Senator Cardin and Senator Van Hollen,
Congressman Ruppersberger and others who have welcomed us to the
state. We look forward to building a bright future in aerospace
manufacturing together.”
“We are excited to support Rocket Lab in expanding Maryland’s
efforts in the space industry,” said Governor of Maryland Wes
Moore. “Renovating this significant Baltimore County site and
creating dozens of new jobs will stimulate opportunity for the
region, and we are certain that this new Rocket Lab location will
become a prominent and successful facility in the state.”
“With new and emerging technologies, the Baltimore region has
been nationally recognized as a leading tech hub. Rocket Lab’s
Middle River facility will be a welcome part of that developing
identity,” said Senator Ben Cardin. “This new facility will bring
technological advancements and innovation that will propel us
forward into the future of aerospace, allow Maryland to continue to
stand out as a global competitor and stimulate economic growth
throughout the state.”
“Our commitment to investing in and growing Maryland’s space
industry has boosted our economy and propelled our nation forward.
Rocket Lab’s establishment of a new assembly facility in Middle
River will create good-paying jobs, contribute to the ongoing
revitalization of manufacturing in Baltimore County, and further
cement Maryland’s status as a leader in American and international
space exploration,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.
“Maryland is home to a unique and growing space industry that is
helping the U.S. maintain its global competitiveness and national
security and I am thrilled that Rocket Lab has chosen us to grow
its business,” Congressman Ruppersberger said. “This facility in
Middle River is a historic site that has been home to aerospace
manufacturing for decades and I am grateful that the tradition –
and quality job creation – will carry on with Rocket Lab. I am
hopeful this will generate a domino effect of innovation and
economic development across the region.”
“We are fully committed to building a stronger economy,
generating new jobs, and supporting our local workforce,” said
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “Rocket Lab’s planned
renovation to the former Lockheed Martin site in Middle River will
honor our region’s history of engineering and innovation while
ensuring that our partnership leads to more job opportunities for
our residents and communities.”
To assist with project costs, in addition to significant support
from Baltimore County, the Maryland Department of Commerce is
providing a $1.56 million repayable loan through the Advantage
Maryland program. Rocket Lab is also eligible for various other
incentives and tax credits, including the Partnership for Workforce
Quality program, the More Jobs for Marylanders program, and the
state's Job Creation Tax Credit.
Rocket Lab currently undertakes composite work for launch
vehicles and spacecraft across its facilities in Long Beach,
California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as Auckland and
Warkworth, New Zealand. Composite development and manufacturing
will continue at these locations, while the establishment of the
new production complex in Middle River, Maryland, enables Rocket
Lab to expand operations in proximity to the Company’s growing
assembly, integration and test complex in Virginia at the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and NASA Wallops Flight Facility,
home to production, integration, and launch facilities for the
Electron and Neutron rockets. The new Space Structures Complex
expands Rocket Lab’s existing footprint in Maryland, where the
Company already operates a manufacturing facility for satellite
separation systems and CubeSat dispensers in Silver Spring.
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+ ABOUT Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with
an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable
launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and
on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more
affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach,
California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small
orbital launch vehicle, the Photon satellite platform and the
Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for
constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January
2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second
most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 171
satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations,
enabling operations in national security, scientific research,
space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and
communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been
selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as
the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three
launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a
private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third pad
in Virginia. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.
+ Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by
the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained
in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in
this press release other than statements of historical fact,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our launch and
space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and
repeatable access to space, Neutron development, operational
expansion and business strategy are forward-looking statements. The
words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,”
“continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,”
“could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
though not all forward-looking statements use these words or
expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees,
but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the
factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as such
factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on
the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section
of our website at www.rocketlabusa.com, which could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the
forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such
forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of
the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim
any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views
to change.
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+ Rocket Lab Media Contact Morgan Bailey
media@rocketlabusa.com
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