Hundreds of high-paying jobs will soon come to Brevard County after an aerospace manufacturing company announced plans to build and launch rockets from the Space Coast.
Blue Origin, which is based in Washington, will base its Florida headquarters at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The company will build and launch its reusable rockets from the Space Coast "later this decade."
Blue Origin is a privately funded aerospace manufacturer set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, who is from Miami.
"One of the unique things about what we're going to do here in Florida — we're not just launching from here, we're building here," Bezos said at Tuesday's announcement.
Gov. Rick Scott said Blue Origin will create more than 330 high-paying jobs and will make a $200 million investment in Brevard County.
Since the space shuttle fleet retired in 2011, the Space Coast has mostly been a place for rocket launches, not assembly.
"The site saw its last launch in 2005, and the pad has stood silent for more than 10 years," Bezos said. "(That's) too long. We can't wait to fix that."
Blue Origin's BE-4 engine, which is the power behind the company's orbital vehicle, will also be test-accepted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
(Devon West, Viewer)