BAE Systems and Rocket Lab are receiving separate U.S. Department of Commerce funding to expand their chips manufacturing facilities vital to national security and the space sector.
The department is awarding the funding under the Biden-Harris Administration’s CHIPS Incentives Program, with up to $35.5 million for BAE Systems and a maximum $23.9 for Rocket Lab, the National Institute of Science and Technology said Monday.
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Expanded Chip Output
BAE Systems’ award will fund the modernization of the company’s Microelectronics Center in Nashua, New Hampshire, a Department of Defense-trusted foundry. The facility’s modernization will quadruple its manufacturing capacity for monolithic microwave integrated circuits vital for advanced military aircraft and commercial satellites.
Rocket Lab’s funding will be spent to modernize and expand the company’s semiconductor plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a targeted 50 percent production increase within the next three years. The higher output is geared at meeting the rising national security and commercial demand for space-grade solar cells.
Funding Mechanics
Disbursements of the BAE Systems and Rocket Lab funding will be based on the completion of project milestones. The Commerce Department signed a preliminary memorandum of terms with BAE Systems in December 2023 and with Rocket Lab in June 2024.
The CHIPS of America notice of funding opportunity for commercial fabrication facilities was released on Feb. 28, 2023. It was expanded in June 23, 2023 to include applications for building, expanding or modernizing commercial facilities for semiconductor materials and production equipment with a minimum of $300 million in capital investment.
Arati Prabhakar, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the Biden-Harris administration is driving investment in the semiconductor supply chain to boost U.S. global competitiveness and security.
“America’s space and military systems are the most capable in the world, and that would not be possible without advanced semiconductor technology,” added Prabhakar, a previous Wash100 awardee.
