FLORIDA (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon founder and South Florida resident Jeff Bezos, is planning a $600 million manufacturing expansion at Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced May 22.
The project will expand Blue Origin’s Rocket Park campus on Florida’s Space Coast with an estimated 830,000-square-foot upper stage manufacturing facility. According to the Governor’s Office, the expansion is expected to add 500 aerospace jobs with an average salary of more than $98,000.
The announcement has a South Florida connection beyond the statewide economic impact. Bezos announced in late 2023 that he was leaving Seattle for Miami, with the Associated Press reporting at the time that he cited family ties and said Blue Origin operations were “increasingly shifting” to Cape Canaveral, about 200 miles north of Miami.
Bezos has also built a major residential footprint in Indian Creek Village, the hyper-exclusive Miami-Dade County island often called “Billionaire Bunker.” Business Insider reported in 2024 that Bezos purchased a third Indian Creek home for $90 million after previously buying two properties on the island for $68 million and $79 million.
Blue Origin is headquartered in Kent, Washington, but Florida has become a major part of the company’s operations. The Governor’s Office said Blue Origin is currently the only company to both manufacture and launch rockets from Florida.
The new facility will support upper stage manufacturing and is expected to increase the volume and mass that can be delivered to orbit from Florida, according to the state announcement.
“Blue Origin’s expansion is proof that when you get the fundamentals right, the best companies bring their best jobs to you,” DeSantis said in the announcement. “Florida has created the ideal environment where companies can succeed, scale and keep choosing Florida over and over again.”
Blue Origin describes its broader mission as building access to space for the benefit of Earth, with a long-term vision of enabling people to live and work in space.
Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, called the Florida expansion “the latest and most ambitious chapter” in the company’s commitment to the state.
“Since 2015, we’ve scaled to nearly 4,000 employees, invested more than $2.3 billion across 500 Florida suppliers, and expanded to 11 sites across Brevard and Orange Counties,” Limp said. “And we’re just getting started.”
The project will use Florida’s Spaceport Improvement Program, known as SIP, to support construction. The program is a partnership between Space Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation.
Jeanette Nuñez, chair of the Space Florida Board of Directors, said the expansion reflects the state’s long-term strategy for aerospace investment.
“Space Florida’s charge has always been to think long-term: to make investments today that position our state for leadership tomorrow,” Nuñez said.
FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue said the Spaceport Improvement Program supports projects that advance innovation and long-term growth across Florida’s spaceport system.
Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly said the expansion supports high-wage job creation and strengthens Florida’s aerospace workforce.
Col. Rob Long, president and CEO of Space Florida, said the project reinforces Florida’s ability to support the full lifecycle of launch.
“When a company can design, build, and launch from the same state, it creates efficiencies that are hard to replicate anywhere else,” Long said.
According to the Governor’s Office, the Spaceport Improvement Program has funded 48 major infrastructure projects since 2012, using more than $531 million in state investment to attract $3.3 billion in private industry funding across Florida’s spaceport system.
Boca Post remains focused on Boca Raton news, but major Florida developments can shape life across South Florida.
