Sandoval County approves $136.5M incentives for 1,000-acre Castelion rocket campus

Sandoval County commissioners approved a $136.5 million incentive package that county leaders say secured Castelion’s Project Ranger on a 1,000-acre site a few miles west of Rio Rancho. Castelion bills the campus as a solid rocket motor manufacturing facility for next-generation hypersonic systems and the county action follows a nationwide search in which the company evaluated 35 locations across 30 states and narrowed to four finalists.

In a Castelion press release dated TORRANCE, CA — November 17, 2025, the company said Project Ranger is projected to create 300 high-quality jobs and generate over $650 million in economic output over the next decade. The release says Castelion “plans to invest more than $100 million in Project Ranger’s development, with additional capital to follow,” and that the campus “will produce solid rocket motors, conduct static tests, and assemble components to produce finished rounds.”

Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson framed the county’s role in site readiness and partnership. “Sandoval County has demonstrated to Castelion through a rigorous site selection process that we are a solid business partner and are ready to help the company realize its vision and support its success,” Johnson said. “We appreciate Castelion’s vote of confidence by choosing Sandoval County as its next production site for rocket motor manufacturing and look forward to a mutually beneficial business relationship.” Kob reported Johnson also said the project will speed up infrastructure projects, like the Paseo del Volcan extension, and that it will establish “a new economic anchor in the Rio Rancho area, comparing it to the impact of Intel.”

Federal and state officials praised the project at public events. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich said the groundbreaking will “strengthen our national security, grow our state's economy, and create over 300 permanent jobs that New Mexicans can build their families around,” and pledged to support defense research and private industry partners. Castelion leadership framed Project Ranger as a manufacturing renaissance; Bryon Hargis, CEO and co-founder, said, “We chose New Mexico for its unparalleled technical talent and history of scientific achievement. Project Ranger represents a renaissance in American manufacturing, delivering the advanced systems our country needs. We're proud to partner with a community that has powered some of our nation's greatest leaps forward. We have a bright future together.”

Local process and community reaction have been active and contested. Rrobserver reports the company held a groundbreaking ceremony “Wednesday, Jan. 21” in rural Sandoval County and that the county commission approved bonds and other measures tied to the project while the county debated water, fire and roads resolutions. Andrew Kreitz, Castelion co-founder and CFO, told the Rrobserver, “Today is all about, I think, two things. One is for members of the community who have not been following it as closely. We want to help them understand what we're doing here, why it's so important to national security ... and to let everyone know that we're moving quickly.”

Opposition voices have called for more review and public input. Pat Elder wrote that “the environmental catastrophe ahead is being set in motion before a single properly noticed public hearing has taken place on the financing or environmental studies that New Mexico law requires.” Military Poisons additionally asserts, “To date, no Environmental Impact Statement, hydrology report, traffic analysis, or hazardous-waste assessment has been made available to the public, yet Sandoval County approved the Project Ranger ordinance and associated funding anyway,” and alleges the county “has moved to purchase adjoining state-lease parcels in order to lease them back to Castelion—effectively using public land to host the facility.” The outlet named Elaine Cimino as founder of Common Ground Rising and quoted a call “to halt Project Ranger until Sandoval County and Rio Rancho comply with open-government laws and complete an independent, transparent environmental review—before a single shovel of earth is turned.”

Key details remain to be clarified in public records and company filings, including a full breakdown of the $136.5 million incentive package, the specific bond amounts approved by the county commission, whether an Environmental Impact Statement or related studies have been filed, the parcel IDs and terms of any county land purchases or leases, and the schedule for the company’s stated plan that “the first building will be completed this summer, with all twenty-one buildings on the campus complete and ready for production by the end of 2026.” County records and Castelion filings are expected to provide those documents and timelines in the coming weeks.