Rocket Lab opened Launch Complex 3 for the Neutron rocket at the Virginia Spaceport on Aug. 28. Photo: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab hosted the opening of its Launch Complex 3 in Virginia on Thursday. The site at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport will serve as the test, launch, and landing facility for its Neutron rocket in development. 

Rocket Lab built the site in less than two years after starting construction in late 2023. It is the company’s fourth launch site — the launcher has two pads at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, and also operates Launch Complex 2 at the Virginia spaceport. 

“Launch Complex 3 is our commitment to providing assured access to space and the launch site diversity that is needed within the United States,” CEO Peter Beck said during remarks at the event. 

The site includes a 30-foot tall launch mount that will hold and release Neutron for test and launch operations; 180,000 gallon LOX and LNG propellant farms; three tanks to store liquid nitrogen, and a water supply tower. 

Earlier this year, Space Systems Command added Rocket Lab and the Neutron rocket to the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contract, which will allow Rocket Lab to compete for national security launches with Neutron once the rocket is in service. 

“With Neutron, we’re preparing to set a whole new standard for performance and reliability with our 13-ton class vehicle. As one of only a handful of launch providers selected by the DoD’s highest-priority national security missions under the NSSL program — for the very first time, these are going to be launched from Virginia,” Beck said. 

Rocket Lab is working toward the first Neutron launch by the end of this year, but Beck acknowledged in a recent call with investors that “every single thing needs to go to plan” to make that date happen. Beck also said in August that Rocket Lab has received its FCC license for Neutron’s first launch, and the FAA has accepted its launch license application to be on track for a license to fly from Launch Complex 3 by the end of the year.

Neutron is designed to be fully reusable and to launch up to 13,000 kg to space for commercial constellations, national security and interplanetary missions, and human spaceflight missions in the future. 

Rocket Lab announced Neutron along with its plans to go public in early 2021 and at the time was targeting a 2024 first launch.  

“High-cadence, reusable launch vehicle Neutron will expand Virginia’s capabilities and enable the United States to quickly and reliably reach the International Space Station, Earth orbit, as well as explore the Moon and beyond,” Beck said Thursday. “I hope one day in the very near future, a Neutron will launch from this pad on its way to Mars — and maybe one day, Venus too.” 

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin attended the opening and also on Thursday opened the Aerospace Academy of the Eastern Shore (AAES), a lab school for students interested in aerospace-specific courses throughout high school, to support the aerospace talent pipeline on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. 

“That is what we are building, the most vibrant space industry complex in America right here,” Youngkin said. “As part of that, we have to attract extraordinary talent, but we also have to build the next generation of talent.”