Elodie Collins
Rocket Lab has officially opened Launch Complex 3, a dedicated facility for testing, launching and landing its reusable rocket Neutron, on Wallops Island, Virginia.
The company said Thursday it held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, where Launch Complex 3 is located.
“Launch Complex 3 is our commitment to providing assured access to space and the launch site diversity that’s needed in the United States for its most important missions,” said Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. “Our Neutron rocket, with its ability for responsive space access as a high cadence reusable launch vehicle, expands Virginia’s aerospace capabilities to enable the United States to quickly and reliably reach the International Space Station and low Earth orbit, as well as explore beyond Earth and on to the Moon and Mars.”
Launch Complex 3 is the company’s fourth launch site. Its construction started in late 2023, with over 60 contractors involved in its development.
Rocket Lab’s Neutron Specifications
Neutron is designed to deploy mega satellite constellations and support human spaceflight and deep space missions. The reusable launch vehicle is capable of carrying payloads weighing up to 13,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit and up to 1,500 kilograms for missions to Mars or Venus.
The medium-lift rocket is equipped with Archimedes oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle engines, which Rocket Lab said operate at lower stress levels compared to other rocket engines. Archimedes uses a cryogenic propellant that combines liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas.
Neutron can return to the launch site once its payload has been deployed or on an ocean landing platform called Return On Investment, which Bollinger Shipyards is developing for Rocket Lab.
