The excitement was palpable on the morning of July 21 at Kennedy Space Center's Launch and Landing Facility.
A group of more than 50 media members, representatives from local colleges and universities, workforce development organizations, local government officials and business development groups had gathered on Florida's Space Coast for a big announcement from Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN).
Construction is underway on the e-commerce giant's new $120 million satellite processing facility that will support Project Kuiper, Amazon's global telecommunications effort to bring high-speed broadband service to the world. Amazon, Space Florida and state government officials gathered at the site of the more than 100,000-square-foot satellite processing facility being built on the Space Coast.
Amazon will create up to 50 new permanent jobs paying an average annual wage of $80,000 plus benefits, said a news release. Another 300 temporary jobs will be created during the construction phase.
“This partnership not only fuels Florida’s reputation as the gateway to space, but also accelerates Space Florida’s mission to transform the Launch and Landing Facility into the premier location for aerospace innovation,” said Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, chair of Space Florida board of directors, during a news conference.
See photos from the news conference in the photo gallery above.
Project Kuiper is comprised of a constellation of 3,236 satellites, and 1,600 of those will be launched by July 2026, said Amazon Kuiper Vice President of Production Steve Metayer. "This new satellite processing facility plays an important role in helping us deliver on that timeline."
Amazon’s buildout at Kennedy Space Center's Launch and Landing Facility stems from a previously announced partnership with Space Florida’s Spaceport Improvement Program, a matching investment initiative to boost critical spaceport infrastructure, driving innovation and job growth in Florida.
As part of that program, Amazon will be the first to move into a new $58 million, 1-mile utility corridor, the Space Florida and Florida Department of Transportation project that ramped up the Launch and Landing Facility's ability to accommodate new aerospace business. The utility corridor will more than double in size in 2024, when another 1.3-mile segment will be completed, according to Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello.
Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
