Ted Mercer, executive director of Virginia Space, said Rocket Lab launches “will boost economic development on the Eastern Shore through launch-viewing tourism, growing the high-skilled workforce in the area, as Rocket Lab expands its operations into the region.”Īdditionally, the company’s presence will draw to the region companies “that want to be involved in the supply chain for rocket launch and space lift.”īeck and Rocket Lab communications director Morgan Bailey on Dec. “We see nothing but that increasing,” he said. In addition to direct job creation, “with any one orbital launch at Wallops, you’ll see restaurants and all of the tangential businesses - hotels - really impacted in a positive way,” he said, noting the Wallops complex already has $1.4 billion per year in economic impact. Pierce said Rocket Lab’s activity at Wallops “is going to have a dramatic impact on the economy of the Eastern Shore of Virginia” as well as on surrounding areas. NASA Wallops Flight Facility Director David Pierce said “it has been nothing short of a Herculean effort” to reach the point of readiness for the inaugural Electron launch. The first will carry satellites into orbit for a geospatial analytics company.īeck thanked NASA, Virginia Space, and the Federal Aviation Administration for their roles. The company has plans to launch multiple Electron rockets from Wallops each year. Rocket Lab will announce a new launch date in January, a spokesperson said. launch at Wallops launch after bad weather, delays finalizing government approval, and holiday airspace restrictions scrapped plans to launch in December. The company is still waiting for its inaugural U.S. The company plans its first Neutron launch from Wallops in 2024. We have the Neutron program, which is a much, much larger launch vehicle,” he said. “It’s not just the Electron that we have intentions of launching here. “It’s not just a launch site, it’s an entire manufacturing facility,” said founder and chief executive Peter Beck during a press conference earlier this month.īeck is a 45-year-old entrepreneur with 32 successful Electron rocket launches under his belt from the company’s first launch site in New Zealand.
Spin-off business related to Rocket Lab and its launches will further increase its local economic impact. The number of jobs the newest private company at Wallops’ spaceport will create “is in the order of hundreds,” according to its founder. Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck stands at the Rocket Lab facility.
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