Florida Governor Ron DeSantis revealed on Friday that Blue Origin will invest $600 million to grow its Rocket Park operations in Cape Canaveral.
This major investment announcement comes at a time when Blue Origin’s competitor, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is moving toward a public offering with an estimated worth of $1.75 trillion.
Key highlights of the expansion include:
• A massive 830,000-square-foot facility dedicated to manufacturing upper stages will create 500 aerospace positions, with workers earning an average of more than $98,000 annually.
• Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp described the initiative in a statement: “Project Horizon is the latest and most ambitious chapter in Blue Origin’s decade-long commitment to Florida.”
• According to Limp, Blue Origin has grown to employ nearly 4,000 people since 2015 and has invested over $2.3 billion through partnerships with 500 Florida suppliers.
• Financial backing for the project will come through the Spaceport Improvement Program, a collaborative effort between Space Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation, which previously supported Blue Origin’s new launch pad at Launch Complex 36.
• Blue Origin, the space venture owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, currently holds the distinction of being the sole company that both builds and launches rockets from Florida.
• Federal aviation authorities directed Blue Origin in April to examine an upper-stage failure of its New Glenn rocket following an unsuccessful satellite mission launched from Florida.
