{"id":8430,"date":"2026-10-09T13:42:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430"},"modified":"2026-10-09T13:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:42:34","slug":"a-new-mexico-community-was-a-place-to-build-a-life-then-a-hypersonic-missile-factory-showed-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430","title":{"rendered":"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"lead-in-text-callout\">Sally Schultz thought<\/span> 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">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\u2019s haven, giving her a second chance at life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Then a missile company showed up next door.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cWe\u2019ve already been through so much,\u201d she says, \u201cand now we have to leave. It is the unknowing that is scariest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Castelion, a startup founded in November 2022 by three former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/tag\/spacex\/\" class=\"text link\">SpaceX<\/a> executives, is building Project Ranger, which it claims will be America\u2019s \u201clargest dedicated hypersonic manufacturing production facility.\u201d Construction is set to be complete by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">The company\u2019s 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\u2019s. That puts the homes squarely within a danger zone should any explosive chemicals stored onsite catch fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">A year into Castelion\u2019s relationship with the state of New Mexico, the company\u2014which declined to speak with WIRED for this story\u2014still hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cI live next door to where World War III will be manufactured,\u201d says local resident Laura Lundberg.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"paywall\"><strong>Big Plans<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Castelion has become a bit of a darling among the new wave of defense tech startups. The company has recently hit a valuation of <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/08\/20\/castelion-hits-13b-valuation-to-mass-produce-hypersonic-missiles\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/08\/20\/castelion-hits-13b-valuation-to-mass-produce-hypersonic-missiles\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/08\/20\/castelion-hits-13b-valuation-to-mass-produce-hypersonic-missiles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$13 billion<\/a>\u2014more than four times its Series B valuation of $2.8 billion from last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">It has received over $500 million in US military contracts in just 18 months, swiftly securing its spot as one of the \u201cArsenal of Freedom\u201d suppliers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">The firm touts its ability to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/russia-hypersonic-missile-test-nato-borders\/\" class=\"text link\">hypersonic missiles<\/a>\u2014a label for any missile flying at five times the speed of sound or higher\u2014at a lower cost than its competitors. The US Army\u2019s Dark Eagle is the most mature domestic hypersonic weapon, and it costs an estimated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs_external_products\/IF\/PDF\/IF11991\/IF11991.38.pdf\" class=\"text link\">$41 million per missile<\/a>, according to a 2023 Congressional Budget Office study. Castelion\u2019s main product, Blackbeard, is a solid-rocket-powered missile that was set to sell for $384,000 per unit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/a-new-mexico-community-was-a-place-to-build-a-life-then-a-hypersonic-missile-factory-showed-up\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[872,440,1092,875,354],"class_list":["post-8430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-defense","tag-department-of-defense","tag-freedom-of-information-act","tag-missiles","tag-startups"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Castelion\u2014a next-generation defense tech company\u2014is building a facility in Rio Rancho Estates that documents show could pose a major fire and chemical hazard to neighboring communities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Castelion\u2014a next-generation defense tech company\u2014is building a facility in Rio Rancho Estates that documents show could pose a major fire and chemical hazard to neighboring communities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-09T13:42:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\"},\"headline\":\"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-09T13:42:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430\"},\"wordCount\":489,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"defense\",\"department of defense\",\"freedom of information act\",\"missiles\",\"startups\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gadgets\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430\",\"name\":\"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-09T13:42:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Castelion\u2014a next-generation defense tech company\u2014is building a facility in Rio Rancho Estates that documents show could pose a major fire and chemical hazard to neighboring communities.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":670},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=8430#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"description\":\"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":1115,\"height\":522,\"caption\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\",\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SILVYBRAND\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Castelion\u2014a next-generation defense tech company\u2014is building a facility in Rio Rancho Estates that documents show could pose a major fire and chemical hazard to neighboring communities.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","og_description":"Castelion\u2014a next-generation defense tech company\u2014is building a facility in Rio Rancho Estates that documents show could pose a major fire and chemical hazard to neighboring communities.","og_url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430","og_site_name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","article_published_time":"2026-10-09T13:42:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":670,"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SILVYBRAND","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SILVYBRAND","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430"},"author":{"name":"SILVYBRAND","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3"},"headline":"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up","datePublished":"2026-10-09T13:42:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430"},"wordCount":489,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg","keywords":["defense","department of defense","freedom of information act","missiles","startups"],"articleSection":["Gadgets"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430","name":"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-09T13:42:34+00:00","description":"Castelion\u2014a next-generation defense tech company\u2014is building a facility in Rio Rancho Estates that documents show could pose a major fire and chemical hazard to neighboring communities.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/093926-New20Mexico20Missle.jpg","width":1280,"height":670},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=8430#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A New Mexico Community Was a Place to Build a Life. Then a Hypersonic Missile Factory Showed Up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","width":1115,"height":522,"caption":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3","name":"SILVYBRAND","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SILVYBRAND"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com"],"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}