Rocket Lab USA, a Long Beach-based aerospace company, cut the ribbon on a new manufacturing facility that will support production for two of the company’s engines — at the site of the now-defunct Virgin Orbit’s former headquarters.
The 144,000-square-foot Engine Development Center will be used to scale up production of Rocket Lab’s 3D-printed Rutherford engine — and will support the development of a new engine, dubbed Archimedes, that will eventually power the company’s new medium-lift rocket, Neutron.
Neutron is the successor to Rocket Lab’s first vehicle, the Electron — which is the world’s only reusable orbital-class small rocket, according to the company’s website and is powered by the 3D-printed Rutherford engine. Its first stage can be recaptured and re-flown after launch, the company said, which allows its clients to conduct more frequent launches without excess costs.
Manufacturing on the Archimedes engine to power the Neutron, meanwhile, will get underway at Rocket Lab’s new Long Beach facility. After it’s completed, according to a Wednesday news release, the Archimedes will undergo testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi — and then integrated into the Neutron for launch from the company’s complex at the Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
Rocket Lab took over Virgin Orbit’s former Long Beach headquarters at 4022 Conant St. in May, shortly after the company declared bankruptcy and laid off the bulk of its local workers — while keeping some on board to wind down the company’s operation. Rocket Lab paid $16.1 million to take over Virgin Orbit’s lease.
“This has been a pretty quick and amazing journey when you think about it,” the company’s CFO Adam Spice said at a Wednesday ribbon cutting event. ” We took over the lease in May and four months later, we’re actually building engine parts — and this factory looks absolutely transformed from what it…
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