Blue Origin will invest $600 million to expand its Rocket Park campus at Cape Canaveral Spaceport, a project expected to create 500 aerospace jobs on Florida’s Space Coast, according to an announcement by Ron DeSantis.
The expansion includes plans for an approximately 830,000-square-foot upper-stage manufacturing facility intended to increase the company’s rocket production and orbital launch capabilities in Florida.
According to the governor’s office, the new jobs are expected to carry average annual salaries exceeding $98,000.
“Blue Origin’s expansion is proof that when you get the fundamentals right, the best companies bring their best jobs to you,” DeSantis said.
“Florida has created the ideal environment where companies can succeed, scale and keep choosing Florida over and over again—promoting growth that reinforces the state’s position a national leader in advanced manufacturing and aviation and aerospace—bolstering Florida’s Space Coast and beyond,” he added.
State officials said Blue Origin is currently the only company that both manufactures and launches rockets from Florida.
The company has operated in Florida since 2015 and now employs nearly 4,000 people across 11 sites in Brevard and Orange counties, according to Dave Limp, chief executive officer of Blue Origin.
Limp said the company has also invested more than $2.3 billion through a network of around 500 suppliers in Florida.
The project will receive support through the Spaceport Improvement Program, a partnership between Space Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation.
According to state officials, the program has funded 48 infrastructure projects since 2012 using more than $531 million in public investment to help attract approximately $3.3 billion in private-sector funding.
The announcement comes as Florida continues expanding its aerospace and advanced manufacturing sectors amid growing commercial space industry investment.
