Morro Rock

Morro Rock is an island in Del Coronado Bay, close to Night City's Center.

Overview
Although the original Morro Rock was small, this island is big enough to hold a full fledged spaceport and airport. A bridge connects Morro Rock to City Center in the east; accessed by going through Union Street or the Night City Ringroad. The island has some of the best views of Night City, as such it is a popular touristic destination.

Early history
Morro Rock was a volcanic neck that was formed 23 million of years ago. It became a sacred place to the local Native American tribes. In the 19th century, the area near the Rock was chosen to build a settlement named Morro Bay. Unfortunately, in the last decades of the 20th century there was much violence in the town, which ended up occupied by a gang of violent bikers. Not long after, a businessmen known as Richard Night managed to buy all the terrains surrounding Morro Rock and expel the gangs. With this, after rearranging the terrain, the volcanic plug was turned into a small island west of the new project Night was about to start.

In 1994, Coronado City was founded on the place of the former Morro Bay town, though after Richard's death in 1998 it was renamed to Night City. During the next decades, the Rock survived the Collapse, the Mob War, and even the Fourth Corporate War and the 2023 AHQ Disaster that destroyed much of the city.

2040s - 2070s
In the 2040s, Morro Rock was still an unsettled small island off the shore of a rebuilding metropolis. It wasn't until then when interest was pointed towards it. Franklin M'bolu of Orbital Air — developer of many of the corporation's technologies — was tasked with a new project for Night City; building NC's first orbital mass driver. The location for such a massive project was chosen to be Morro Rock due to its geological stableness. When finished, it would allow spaceplanes to be launched into low Earth orbit (LEO).

Construction started in 2045, though many decisions were eventually scrapped. The Night City Mayor had signed a contract to build a mass driver, but Orbital Air management was skeptical that rocket-free launches could take place without corporate backing ensuring its profitability. As such, OA proposed to build a civilian spaceport as well. It was decided to demolish Morro Rock itself in order to build the new infrastructure. This time it was not Orbital Air who gave permission to demolish the Rock, but rather the Night City authorities.

In the end, Orbital Air managed to take advantage of loopholes in order to cancel the mass driver's construction and its rusted, incomplete remains were eventually dismantled. This way the megacorp's monopoly on space colonization remained intact. During the next two years, the island's terrain was rearranged and greatly expanded to accommodate the NCX Spaceport. In 2047, the spaceport was finally inaugurated. Now, Morro Rock was a sizeable island west of Night City, with installations capable of transporting people and merchandise across the globe and its orbital stations.

By 2077, ground transportation into Night City was only advised if you were accompanied by corporate or military personnel. Instead, visitors to NC were strongly encouraged to travel by plane, using the installations on Morro Rock as the safest solution.

2045

 * Orbital Air Housing Block #3
 * Orbital Air Massdriver

2077

 * Night City International and Translunar Spaceport

Development
Morro Rock was first introduced in. The formation was not in the original and  because in the lore it had been covered up with fill. If the original maps had shown elevations, it would have been possible to see the city rise to the northwest. After 2023, the fill above the Rock was used to cover parts of the bay and the crater left by the nuke, leaving Morro Rock in full view for the citizens. This explanation has been presumably omitted following the subsequent releases, considering that Cyberpunk RED already shows Morro Rock in 2020 as an island.

In order to match with the world, Morro Rock was moved to the west in Cyberpunk RED, and it is in a different location than its real counterpart.

Trivia

 * Before being turned into an island, this was the same Morro Rock as in real life, albeit, not in the exact same location. In, the only resemblance is in the name.