Manufacturing work is heating up construction activity in the Arizona desert, ranging from EV battery plants to spaceship facilities.
Tempe, Arizona-based Sun State Builders and Lewisville, Texas-based Parkway Construction are seizing this increased construction demand in the greater Phoenix area. Earlier this month, the general contractors completed Virgin Galactic’s new aerospace manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, the spaceflight company told Construction Dive.
Mojave, California-based Virgin Galactic plans to use the facility for the final assembly of its next-generation Delta spaceships, with production set to begin in the first quarter of 2025, according to its CEO Michael Colglazier.
Sun State Builders constructed the shell of the facility, while Parkway Construction handled tenant improvement work, such as specialized equipment installation and interior modifications.
Even as construction on the physical building and its structural elements is complete, work on the facility will continue this year in order to make it operational. The facility, featuring two hangars with multiple bays for building and testing space vehicles, will receive major subassemblies such as the wing, fuselage and feathering system.
An initial team is already preparing the site to receive and install tooling by the fourth quarter, according to the release. The facility will also use Virgin Galactic’s digital twin technology for seamless integration with suppliers through real-time collaboration.
The spaceflight company strategically located its new facility in Arizona, a growing hub conveniently positioned between its operations in Southern California and New Mexico, said Swami Iyer, Virgin Galactic’s president of aerospace systems, during the project announcement two years ago. Its geographic location allows faster progression from design to production to final assembly at scale, he said.
The project took nearly two years to complete. Virgin Galactic did not disclose the project’s final price tag.
