Jeff Bezos unveils rocket plant, launchpad near NASA spaceport in Florida

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday unveiled plans to build a rocket manufacturing plant and launch site in Florida, a business that will compete against fellow tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Bezos’ space startup, Blue Origin, intends to invest more than $200 million to build the rocket-building facility adjacent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, state officials said. The rockets will fly from a refurbished launchpad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, just south of the NASA spaceport.

The announcement follows last week’s opening of a Boeing commercial spaceship assembly plant at the Kennedy Space Center. Both projects included financial backing from state, local and regional economic development agencies. So far, Florida has invested about $2 billion to lure aerospace companies to the state.

Blue Origin has been developing and testing a small rocket, New Shepard, that can travel about 100 miles above the planet before returning to Earth. The company’s planned new rockets would be able to reach orbital altitudes, such as the 250-mile-high perch of the International Space Station, and beyond.

Bezos, who was in Florida to make the announcement, said Blue Origin will also test its BE-4 engines at the new launch site. The company is partnering with United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, on the engine development.

“This is a translational moment ... the evolution of a new commercial space industry in Florida,” said Frank DiBello, the president of Space Florida, an economic development agency.

Reuters