H.B.-based Rocket Lab heading for new pad in Long Beach

Rocket Lab, a small-satellite launch and manufacturing company based in Huntington Beach, will blast off to a new home in Long Beach later this year, officials said this week.

The new facility will serve as the company’s corporate headquarters as well as a production complex and mission control center.

Rocket Lab has launched 47 satellites, according to its website. The company was founded in 2006.

“We’ll gradually transition from the Huntington Beach facility this year and move entirely to Long Beach,” Rocket Lab spokeswoman Morgan Bailey said Friday.

The company’s existing facility at 14520 Delta Lane employs about 100 people, according to the Orange County Business Journal.

Officials this week touted Long Beach as an ideal long-term fit for the company. The new complex “will mean larger production facilities, purpose-built customer experience areas and room to grow as the company enters another busy launch year,” according to a news release.

“It has a vibrant space community, it’s close to many of our suppliers and offers room to grow as our operations do,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s founder and chief executive, said in a statement. “The city of Long Beach has been incredibly welcoming, and we look forward to working with them to continue growing the local space economy.”

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia added: “We are incredibly excited to see Rocket Lab move to Long Beach. The expansion of this company in a city with an aerospace history as rich as ours will support new jobs and economic growth in the region.”

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