Defense company Redwire expands local footprint with new Albuquerque facility

Global space and defense company Redwire is expanding its Albuquerque footprint with the opening of a brand new facility, a development that could create more than a dozen local jobs and generate millions of dollars for the local economy.

Company and city officials celebrated the grand opening of Redwire’s new Albuquerque site, the Firestone Rapid Capabilities Facility, on Wednesday. Todd Bisio, Redwire senior vice president for space systems and general manager for Albuquerque, is no stranger to the space technologies industry.

Bisio previously served as director of operations for LoadPath, a company Redwire acquired in 2020 that specializes in advanced engineering products and services for launch vehicles and satellite manufacturing.

The new 15,000-square-foot Firestone facility will allow Redwire to expand its capabilities in customer delivery, structural and mechanical analysis, design and ground support equipment, officials said. Bisio anticipates an increase in labor at the facility, but will phase employees in slowly, estimating about 20 new hires by the end of 2026. Redwire did not disclose construction costs for the site.

“We had done the majority of our assembly, integration and test and hardware build under (an) Air Force Research Lab Cooperative Research and Development Agreement prior to this new facility,” Bisio said. “So, this expansion really expands our footprint in New Mexico and allows us to do a lot more to grow here in the community.”

The new facility is expected to have a $106 million economic impact over the next decade, state officials said.

Sam McCraw, executive vice president for program integration at X-Bow Systems, an Albuquerque-based defense firm founded in 2016, said the company has worked alongside Redwire for the last five years and collaborated with LoadPath in the past.

“It was a strong partnership for us as a brand new startup company, bringing in that kind of expertise increased the odds of being successful dramatically,” McCraw said.

X-Bow announced in August its joint $13.9 million investment with the U.S. Army to design, prototype and test an advanced solid rocket motor. McCraw “absolutely” sees the partnership between X-Bow and Redwire, which produces rocket structures for the Albuquerque company, growing with the opening of the Firestone facility.

“Even without the facility, our relationship was going to keep going for quite some time, but this facility opens up better opportunities for us to do additional development (and) actually bring more testing in-house to the partnership,” McCraw said. “I expect X-Bow hardware to be sitting in that facility pretty soon.”

With the state’s history in both space and defense, along with homegrown startups building on the industry, Economic Development Department Rob Black said New Mexico is a great location for companies like Redwire.

“I think (it) really demonstrates that we are a place for this particular sector, especially as it relates to space, low orbit satellites (and) defense-related technologies,” Black said. “New Mexico is a leader, and has been for generations, and we’re excited to continue that leadership with companies that are making these sorts of investments.”

The expansion of Redwire in Albuquerque follows Castelion Corp., a California-based manufacturer of long-range, hypersonic missiles, announcing in August its consideration to build a major facility in Sandoval County. The company is eyeing a stretch of land along Paseo del Volcan with the intention of constructing the site on 1,000 acres of undeveloped land. If built, state and local officials estimate an economic impact of $659 million in its first operational phase.

Bisio said Redwire is positioning itself as a space technology company that can meet the needs of the Department of Defense.

“We really want to fill that niche in terms of being one of the many companies that are trying to really provide a new solution for the government customer to go to for rapid innovation and development,” Bisio said.