RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Castelion, a defense technology company, today broke ground on Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre manufacturing campus in Sandoval County.
The groundbreaking marks the next phase of a $150 million private investment expected to generate $650 million in economic output over the next decade and create 300 high-wage jobs. The campus's first building is scheduled to be completed this summer, with all 21 buildings complete and ready for production by the end of 2026.
Castelion plans to produce solid rocket motors, conduct static tests and assemble components to produce finished rounds. The company has designed its testing procedures to minimize noise and ensure the safety of surrounding neighborhoods.
Castelion picked New Mexico for its hypersonic manufacturing campus last November. The next month, the company announced $350 million in Series B financing.
The company is using part of the funds to ramp up tooling, commissioning and production in New Mexico. Project Ranger is expected to produce thousands of Blackbeard missiles per year.
Castelion has also partnered with Manufacturo, a manufacturing software platform designed for high-complexity, high-mix production environments, to establish a modern digital backbone for scalable, traceable weapons production.
Castelion's hypersonic strike systems can be manufactured rapidly and at scale to support credible non-nuclear deterrence for the U.S. and its allies.
"To field hypersonic strike weapons at the scale national security demands, we have to treat manufacturability as a first-order requirement, not an afterthought," said Bobby Panerio, head of manufacturing at Castelion. "Manufacturo supports a production system that matches our engineering pace while staying flexible enough to handle rapid design change."
