Firefly Aerospace to Open New Production, Launch Facilities in Florida

Firefly Aerospace has announced plans to open manufacturing and launch facilities within Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida.

The company said Friday it will invest $52M to construct production facilities at Exploration Park and begin launch operations at Space Launch Complex 20 as part of an agreement with Space Florida, the state’s spaceport development authority.

Space Florida will help Firefly carry out operations in the state with an $18.9M investment through the Florida Department of Transportation’s Spaceport Improvement Program.

Firefly CEO Tom Markusic said the new production facility will help the firm manufacture 24 Alpha spacecraft units annually in an effort to support commercial cislunar space activities and the rapid expansion of small satellite operations.

“SLC-20 will allow Firefly access to lower inclination orbital trajectories for its customers and enable access to lunar trajectories for its lander program as part of our Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract with NASA,” said Brad Obrocto, director of launch operations at Firefly.

Firefly also noted that the move will potentially generate over 200 jobs in Florida.
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