Musk’s SpaceX to invest $1.8 billion in Florida for Starship program expansion
Ahead of SpaceX’s eighth attempt to launch Starship from Texas on Monday, the company announced it is building a 380-foot tall, 815,000 square foot “Gigabay” facility where it will assemble future Starship rockets before shipping them to the launchpad.
The company is eyeing two Florida launchpads for Starship – one close to its primary launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A, and another potential site nearby at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Launch Complex 37. The 39A Starship site is already under construction.
“The project includes at least $1.8 billion of SpaceX capital investment and will bring an estimated 600 new full-time jobs in the Space Coast by 2030,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office said in a statement on Monday.
SpaceX has not yet secured regulatory approvals to launch Starship from Florida.
The U.S. Air Force is leading a review into how Starship launches in the state would impact the local environment. A draft report of SpaceX’s plans and its environmental impact is expected to be published in the spring, followed by a regulatory decision later this year on whether to green-light those plans.
Some tenants of the area’s other launch pads, such as the Boeing-Lockheed (BA.N), opens new tab, (LMT.N), opens new tab joint venture United Launch Alliance and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, have called for more scrutiny into Starship’s Florida plans over concerns an explosion of the rocket could cause widespread damage.
Reuters