Satellite-Processing Facility for Project Kuiper Planned at KSC
Project Kuiper is moving one step closer to deploying its full satellite constellation, with construction underway on a new satellite-processing facility at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center.
“We are grateful to Governor DeSantis and his administration, as well as our regional partners, for investing in infrastructure, training a highly skilled workforce, and maintaining an economic climate that allows Project Kuiper to advance our mission of providing internet access.”
Brian Huseman, Amazon
The facility is the latest long-term investment in Project Kuiper, a low Earth orbit satellite network that will provide fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. The space will be used to prepare and integrate Kuiper satellites with rockets from Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) ahead of launches. It stems from an expected partnership with Space Florida’s Spaceport Improvement Program—a matching investment initiative to boost critical spaceport infrastructure—and is one of several Amazon investments that will drive innovation and job growth in the state of Florida.
“We have an ambitious plan to begin Project Kuiper’s full-scale production launches and early customer pilots next year, and this new facility will play a critical role in helping us deliver on that timeline,” said Steve Metayer, vice president of Kuiper Production Operations. “We are proud to partner with Space Florida to bolster the growing space industry in Florida and elsewhere across the United States, and we look forward to adding more talent to our skilled operations and manufacturing team. These employees will play an important part in our mission to connect tens of millions of customers worldwide.”
Project Kuiper will begin satellite production at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kirkland, Washington, by the end of this year. The new satellite-processing facility in Florida will be used to receive those satellite shipments, 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.
Amazon Investing $120 Million for Satellite-Processing Facility
Amazon is investing $120 million in new construction and high-value equipment for the facility, and creating up to 50 new jobs on the Space Coast. These Project Kuiper facilities are critical to Amazon’s commitment to spur innovation; design and develop prototype and production satellites; and prepare our satellites for commercial deployment.
“We are grateful to Governor DeSantis and his administration, as well as our regional partners, for investing in infrastructure, training a highly skilled workforce, and maintaining an economic climate that allows Project Kuiper to advance our mission of providing internet access to unserved and underserved communities around the world,” said Brian Huseman, vice president of public policy and community engagement at Amazon.
“Adding Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite payload processing facility to the region’s growing industrial capability in commercial space is a testament to the power of building a statewide ecosystem that supports companies across the entire aerospace supply chain. Space Florida has invested in bringing together unrivaled experience, unmatched financial tools, and an unbeatable location to offer companies opportunities for sustainable, long-term growth," said Frank DiBello, president and CEO, Space Florida.
The facility is also the latest in a series of Amazon investments in the U.S. space and satellite industry, and in the state of Florida. Amazon has secured 77 heavy-lift launch vehicles to deploy its satellite constellation, most of which will be provided by U.S. launch providers Blue Origin and ULA, and launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(Source: Amazon and Space Florida news releases. Images provided by Amazon and Space Florida)