Rocket Lab gets investment to increase manufacturing in Albuquerque

The James Webb Space Telescope. The International Space Station and vehicles that explored Mars and the Moon.

Those are some of the technologies that included products from Rocket Lab that were made at the company’s manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, which is expanding with assistance and incentives from the state and federal government.

Adam Spice, Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer, said the company will see $23.9 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act and $25.5 million in financial assistance and incentives from the state of New Mexico in order to increase advanced manufacturing in Albuquerque.

Rocket Lab recently signed a nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms with the Department of Commerce.

Spice said that the company is looking to add 100 direct jobs as it ramps up production.

Rocket Lab specializes in the production of highly efficient and radiant resistant semiconductors called space-grade solar cells. The proposed CHIPS investment would allow Rocket Lab to increase its semiconductor production by 50% in the next three years.

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 aimed to reshore production of certain electronics after supply chains were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials during an event announcing the funding said that reshoring production of certain technologies is a national security matter.

Don Graves, the deputy secretary of U.S. Department of Commerce, was in Albuquerque for the announcement and to tour the Rocket Lab manufacturing facility with Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

“It’s critically important that we’re making these types of investments across the country to spur more U.S. leadership in technologies that are literally powering the future of our commercial space development, our national security and also keeping us one step ahead of our competitors all across the globe,” Graves said in an interview with the Journal. “This is about bringing back American leadership and competitiveness in critical technologies.

Stansbury said technology on the space station was created using Rocket Lab’s work in Albuquerque.

“We are the beating heart of science and innovation for our national security complex,” she said.

During the tour of the lab, Brad Clavenger, the vice president of space systems for Rocket Lab, said more than half of the company’s employees don’t have advanced degrees. He said the lab also has pathways to higher-paying jobs within the company. He said many the lab’s technical workforce make $35 to $40 per hour.

“The power of all of these technologies creates the kind of protections and opportunities that sometimes in your everyday life, you forget about,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Heinrich said that the U.S. needs to be a leader in the advanced technologies made at Rocket Lab.

“We need to be able to, especially for those national security applications, we need to be able to dominate this market and lead this market,” Heinrich said.