Sally Schultz thought she had struck gold when she purchased land in Rio Rancho Estates, an unincorporated, census-designated community just outside the city of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. A single mother of four, Schultz came there following a divorce to build a homestead of her own and finally gain some stability in her life.
For $3,500, she was able to purchase half an acre for her trailer in a rural area located close to numerous elementary schools and parks. In a relatively short time, she was able to coax crops like corn, squash, and green chile from the ground. This cheap land became Schultz’s haven, giving her a second chance at life.
Then a missile company showed up next door.
“We’ve already been through so much,” she says, “and now we have to leave. It is the unknowing that is scariest.”
Castelion, a startup founded in November 2022 by three former SpaceX executives, is building Project Ranger, which it claims will be America’s “largest dedicated hypersonic manufacturing production facility.” Construction is set to be complete by the end of the year.
The company’s chosen site for its mega-campus is, in some cases, it appears, a little more than 1,000 yards away from roughly 450 properties in Rio Rancho Estates, including Schultz’s. That puts the homes squarely within a danger zone should any explosive chemicals stored onsite catch fire.
A year into Castelion’s relationship with the state of New Mexico, the company—which declined to speak with WIRED for this story—still hasn’t answered basic safety questions, even as an official hazard assessment found buildings would simply be left to burn in the case of fire, releasing hydrochloric acid gas into the air. Emails between the company and Rio Rancho officials reviewed by WIRED also show Castelion was negotiating fire safety standards even after construction was well underway.
“I live next door to where World War III will be manufactured,” says local resident Laura Lundberg.
Big Plans
Castelion has become a bit of a darling among the new wave of defense tech startups. The company has recently hit a valuation of $13 billion—more than four times its Series B valuation of $2.8 billion from last year.
It has received over $500 million in US military contracts in just 18 months, swiftly securing its spot as one of the “Arsenal of Freedom” suppliers.
The firm touts its ability to make hypersonic missiles—a label for any missile flying at five times the speed of sound or higher—at a lower cost than its competitors. The US Army’s Dark Eagle is the most mature domestic hypersonic weapon, and it costs an estimated $41 million per missile, according to a 2023 Congressional Budget Office study. Castelion’s main product, Blackbeard, is a solid-rocket-powered missile that was set to sell for $384,000 per unit.