Rocket Lab Opens Engine Development Center
Rocket Lab Opens Engine Development Center
New Facility is in Long Beach, CA
An Engine Development Center has been opened by Rocket Lab in Long Beach, California.
The advanced manufacturing complex will support the high-rate production of Rocket Lab’s 3D printed Rutherford engine, as well development and production for the new Archimedes engine that will power the Company’s new medium-lift rocket, Neutron.
“This Engine Development Center builds on the legacy of the Rutherford engine and signals a new era at Rocket Lab.”
Peter Beck, Rocket Lab
The facility was formerly Virgin Orbit’s headquarters and factory for the Launcher One vehicle. Rocket Lab took over the lease for the facility and acquired the factory’s production assets, machinery, and equipment in May 2023 for $16.1 million, generating significant savings for the Neutron’s production program.
“This Engine Development Center builds on the legacy of the Rutherford engine and signals a new era at Rocket Lab with the development of Archimedes, our new large LOx/methane engine which will power the reusable Neutron rocket," said Rocket Lab Founder and CEO Peter Beck. "By co-locating our Engine Development Center near our Long Beach headquarters and production complex, we’ve maximized collaboration between our engineering and manufacturing to ensure streamlined efficiency as we continue ramping up Electron launch cadence and get closer to Neutron’s debut launch.”
The Engine Development Center was officially opened by Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. “By choosing Long Beach for this new expansion, it further cements our role as a nationally significant hub of space technology and manufacturing,” Richardson said.
After being manufactured at the Engine Development Center, the completed Archimedes engines will undergo testing at NASA’s historic Stennis Space Center in Mississippi where Rocket Lab is establishing a dedicated test facility at the A-3 Test Stand. From there, the Archimedes engines will be integrated onto the Neutron launch vehicle in preparation for lift-off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 3 at Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Rutherford engines complete testing in New Zealand before integration onto Electron and launch from Rocket Lab’s two Electron launch sites; Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and Launch Complex 2 in Virginia.