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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Blue Origin Selects Brevard County, Florida To Manufacture-Launch Orbital Vehicles

09/16/2015
Blue Origin, a private company developing vehicles and technologies to enable commercial human space transportation, selected Brevard County as the site for the launch, manufacturing and support facilities for its Orbital Launch Vehicle program. The project will create 330 new jobs and a capital investment of $200 million during the next five years in the Space Coast region of Florida.

Jeff Bezos, Founder of Blue Origin and CEO of Amazon.com, said, “Cape Canaveral has long been a gateway to humankind’s greatest adventures. Our new home – Complex 36 – has seen 43 years of service and 145 launches, including the Mariner missions, Pioneer 10 and Surveyor 1 – the first U.S. spacecraft to land softly on the moon. This historic pad hasn’t seen a rocket launch in more than 10 years – too long – we can’t wait to fix that.”

Blue selected Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to serve as its launch site. In addition, Blue Origin will be assembling its new launch vehicle nearby, helping to make Florida a major manufacturing center for high-tech space-bound hardware as well as being the nation’s premier gateway to space.

“This announcement is the result of a marriage of visions,” said Space Florida President/CEO Frank DiBello. “It is Florida’s vision to be the world’s greatest spaceport and Blue Origin’s vision to push the boundaries of space travel. Nothing is more exciting than the arrival of an historic business venture that brings with it prosperity and the promise of exploring the stars.”

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Jesse Panuccio said, “Historically, Florida has been the site of many of the most important moments in space innovation and exploration. The nature of the space industry is changing, with more private-sector engagement, but Florida can continue to be a leader in this field if we make the right investments. Blue Origin’s selection of Florida will help us secure Florida’s future as a national leader in the space industry. This is great news for the state and for Cape Canaveral.”

Bill Johnson, Enterprise Florida President/CEO said, “For decades, Florida has led the world in space flight and we are now at the forefront of commercial space travel. The state provides the ideal business climate for innovative companies like Blue Origin to come to Florida and succeed, and we look forward to watching them push this industry to places it has yet to go.”

“I am proud to announce that Blue Origin has selected Florida for this exciting new venture which will create 330 new jobs in Brevard County. Enterprise Florida was instrumental in bringing Blue Origin here, and we must keep working to fully fund Enterprise Florida so we can create more great jobs for Florida families”, said Governor Rick Scott.

This project was made possible by close partnerships between Enterprise Florida, Space Florida, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, CareerSource Florida, North Brevard Economic Development Zone, Brevard County, Florida Power & Light and Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.

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