Amazon Picks Space Coast for $120 Million Satellite Construction Facility

EXPLORATION PARK, Fla.—July 21, 2023—Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, announced that Amazon’s Project Kuiper has expanded to Florida, investing $120 million into the construction of a satellite processing facility at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) located at Kennedy Space Center.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite network, which aims to provide fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. This new facility in Florida will enable the company to conduct final preparations ahead of satellite deployment through heavy-lift launch vehicles from Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA).

Key Amazon Florida Satellite Processing Facility Facts

• Amazon to invest approximately $120 million in new construction and high-value equipment

• 100,000+ square foot in payload processing and support facilities

• Bring up to 50 new jobs with an average annual wage of $80,000 plus benefits, and an additional 300 during the construction phase

• Amazon’s Project Kuiper utilized Space Florida’s lease structure agreement, which is part of the state’s financial toolkit

• Expected operational early 2025

The project will also benefit from the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Spaceport Improvement Program, which is administered by Space Florida and FDOT, and encourages private investment in the Florida Spaceport System by providing matching investment in critical spaceport infrastructure.

The new satellite-processing facility in Florida will be used to receive satellite shipments from the manufacturing facility in Kirkland, Washington, conduct final preparations ahead of launches, connect satellites to custom dispensers from Beyond Gravity, and integrate the loaded dispensers with launch vehicles. The 100,000-square-foot facility features a 100-foot tall high bay clean room to allow room for the payload fairing of new heavy-lift rockets like Blue Origin’s New Glenn and ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, most of which will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Project Kuiper infrastructure includes a constellation of over 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit, affordable, high-performance customer terminals, and ground networking enabled by Amazon Web Services.

Amazon is preparing to launch two prototype satellites in the coming months to help test the network and subsystems, and expects to begin production launches and early enterprise customer pilots in 2024.

Sources: Space Florida ; Amazon