In another sign that the Wallops Island facility is fulfilling its potential as an important regional employer and economic driver, a California rocket builder has announced plans to construct a manufacturing facility and launch pad on the Virginia island.

Rocket Lab USA Inc., regarded as a leading launch and space systems company, said this week that Wallops will serve as its first launch site and be home to its extensive manufacturing and operations facilities.

The venture could create as many as 250 jobs in Virginia and neighboring Maryland.

The company is known for its 8-ton payload class reusable Neutron rocket. The rocket provides launch solutions for multi-satellite payloads. The world’s first carbon composite large launch vehicle, Neutron features reusable rocket engines and an advanced upper stage to enable high performance for complex satellite deployments.

The Neutron Production Complex and launch pad for its Neutron rocket will be located adjacent to and within the NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

The complex will be home to a rocket production, assembly, an integration facility and a dedicated launch pad for the Neutron rocket located on the southern end of Wallops Island.

The estimated 250,000-square-foot state-of-the-art complex will be constructed on a 28-acre site adjacent to the Wallops Island Flight Facility and will include a Launch Control Center, Rocket Lab’s fifth global operations center for launch activities and on-orbit operations.

As a reusable rocket, Neutron is designed to land back on the launch pad after a mission and from there it would be returned to the production complex for refurbishment and re-flight.

The manufacturing complex will be located at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2, the company’s launch site for the Electron launch vehicle, the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually since 2019.

“Neutron is a new generation of rocket that will advance the way space is accessed, and Virginia makes perfect sense as a significant site for Neutron’s early development,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck.

“Its position on the eastern seaboard is the ideal location to support both Neutron’s expected frequent launch cadence and the rocket’s return-to-Earth capability of landing back at its launch site after lift-off; and as one of only four states in the United States with an FAA spaceport license for missions to Earth orbit or on interplanetary trajectories, Virginia is home to an active and experienced aerospace workforce we can pull from to support Neutron’s development and launch.”

Rocket Lab said it selected Wallops based on extensive support from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, working alongside Accomack County, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority and the Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission.

Virginia has set aside $30 million for infrastructure and operational systems improvements to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport where the Neutron launch site will be located, along with $15 million from the MEI Project Approval Commission in site improvements and building construction in support of Neutron.

Rocket Lab expects to begin construction on the Neutron Production Complex in Virginia soon. Commercial and government interest in Neutron is strong and includes a recent $24 million development contract granted by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command in support of Neutron’s capability to aid national security and defense missions ranging from scientific and experimental satellites to the largest and most critical national security payloads.