Project Ranger, a Castelion Corporation rocket manufacturing and testing plant, will be coming to Sandoval County.
The company announced last week that it has officially selected a Rancho Estates site for the factory, expected to eventually employ more than 300.
In the Town of Bernalillo, Mayor Jack Torres says he’s concerned about what impact the plant will have on the county’s smaller communities.
“It’s great that they’re creating jobs,” Torres told the Sandoval Signpost. “Honestly, I’m anxious to get more information.”
Torres said his concerns center on traffic and safety issues. That includes ensuring that Bernalillo County first responders receive adequate training to deal with any incidents that could occur as finished rocket motors and other products are transported through the town.
County Manager Wayne Johnson said the company is working on an incident response plan that will include first responders from surrounding communities. He said the initial response will come from highly trained Castelion personnel, who will be at the site around the clock.
“The biggest problem we have is that people hear ‘rockets’ and they think it’s not safe,” Johnson said. “This is a very controlled, regulated and safe process.”
Castelion co-founder Andrew Kreitz told county commissioners last month the firm won’t do any launches from the Project Ranger site. He said workers there will build solid rocket motors, assemble missiles and assemble and test electronic components.
The rocket motors on site will be subject to static fire testing, but won’t go into the air, Kreitz said.
He also said the plant would be built farther from residential and commercial areas than similar plants across the country.
Torres said he’s concerned about the new traffic the plant will generate, including more vehicles on U.S. Highway 550, which runs through northern Bernalillo.
The Bernalillo Town Council, in September, went on record as opposing construction of a new Westside bypass, which would include widening and extending Paseo del Volcan.
Johnson said after the vote that a Westside bypass would benefit the entire area, including Bernalillo. He said Project Ranger will mean more traffic on U.S. 550, but that many Sandoval County residents now working in Albuquerque could ditch their commutes and other workers will relocate for the high-paying jobs and to take advantage of Rio Rancho’s good schools and safe neighborhoods.
Torres was also critical of what he called a lack of inclusion for smaller communities during the process of bringing the rocket plant in.
“I was recently informed that the county wanted to meet and talk about it,” he said.”My response was, ‘isn’t it a little bit late for that?’”
Johnson said Castelion wants to be a good neighbor and listen to concerned parties. He said the company is engaged in a tribal consultation process and will probably host at least three public meetings to discuss and try to mitigate people’s concerns.
However, Johnson said, some factors won’t be changed, including the location, 29th Avenue, near its intersection with Encino Road.
According to a news release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department, Castelion expects to break ground on the factory in early 2026.
The project was secured through financial incentives extended by the county, Rio Rancho and the state government.