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.

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“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.

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