Building the Infrastructure for More Frequent Launches in Florida

By Ian Richardson, Senior Vice President of Operations, Blue Origin

Launching at a high cadence requires a connected system - one that manufactures vehicles at scale, prepares customer payloads efficiently, supports reliable launch operations, and quickly returns reusable boosters to service. We are building that system here in Florida. 

Blue Origin has invested more than $3 billion in facilities and infrastructure across the state. More than 5,000 employees and 500 Florida suppliers support our work today. Our manufacturing and operations footprint has more than doubled in the last couple of years, now spanning more than 20 sites across Brevard and Orange Counties. Blue Origin is the only company - and the largest employer - to manufacture, launch, and refurbish rockets on the Space Coast. 

These investments are centered on one goal: building the capacity to support more missions, more reliably, and more efficiently. As we look ahead, this infrastructure is designed to support multiple flights per week by the end of the decade. 

Manufacturing for a growing flight schedule 

At Rocket Park - our 1.37-million-square-foot manufacturing campus near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center - teams are developing the production capabilities required for New Glenn’s increased flight rate. 

Our $330 million expansion, now underway, will support manufacturing of New Glenn’s 9x4 second stage. When complete in the summer of 2027, it will enable annual production of up to 150 upper stages. 

We are investing in automated machining, welding, material handling, and inspection tools that make production more consistent and repeatable. These systems help our teams identify issues earlier and focus their expertise on the highest-value work. 

Additional investments in fairing preparation, chemical processing, tooling, and storage are all designed with the same intention: to keep hardware flowing through production and ready for integration. 

Our investments also build the capability to bring in raw materials and manufacture nearly all of our components, systems, and products in-house. Paired with our network of external supplier partners, this creates a resilient, responsive pipeline designed to keep our factories supplied as we increase our production rate. 

Preparing missions in parallel 

Achieving higher cadence also requires the ability to prepare multiple missions at once. 

Our customer integration facility, being built in partnership with the United States Space Force at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is designed with four payload bays, two encapsulation bays, and a dedicated multi-manifest processing area. It will support both New Glenn 7x2 and 9x4 vehicles, including national security missions. 

A new vertical integration facility - currently under construction - will support integration of New Glenn 9x4 and strengthen our ability to run vehicle and payload preparations in parallel.

Together, these facilities create the bridge between manufacturing capacity and flight-ready missions. 

Expanding launch capacity 

The next link in the chain is launch infrastructure. 

At LC-36, our footprint includes vehicle integration, refurbishment, fueling, environmental control, and launch facilities. LC-36A, the first newly rebuilt launch complex on the Cape since the 1960s, is being restored following the anomaly earlier this year. LC-36B, currently under construction, will serve as the operational home for New Glenn 9x4. 

We recently filed an Environmental Assessment requesting an increase in permitted launch rate at LC-36 from 12 to 50 launches per year. 

To support future demand, we also plan to add additional New Glenn launch pads on the Space Coast to join our two pads at LC-36, providing additional capacity and launch pad resiliency. These pads will be rapidly sited and constructed by replicating the design and construction approach being demonstrated with the build of LC-36B. 

Building the return path for reusable boosters 

For a reusable rocket, the job isn’t finished when the booster lands. The ground system must support rapid, reliable reuse. 

Port Canaveral is home to Jacklyn, New Glenn’s sea-based landing platform, and work is underway on two more landing platforms to expand our recovery capacity. 

Our vertical integration facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will serve as a booster processing facility -receiving recovered first stages, performing inspections, and preparing them for refurbishment and future missions. 

By tightly connecting landing, recovery, inspection, refurbishment, and flight preparation, we are building reuse into a repeatable, scalable operation. 

A long-term commitment to Florida 

Our work extends across the region. Teams in Cocoa and Melbourne support fabrication, tooling, thermal protection systems, and development. Orlando and Titusville house logistics and materials operations. Across the Cape and the state, facilities manufacture, integrate, and test hardware for our Lunar Permanence program. 

We are also investing in the next generation. Since 2019, our nonprofit Club for the Future has reached nearly 700,000students and 65,000 educators in Florida through STEAM-focused programming. 

As we grow, operating with integrity and being responsible stewards of the environment remain foundational to our work. 

The capacity taking shape in Florida - and the teams building it - are laying the foundation for a future where access to space is more frequent, more reliable, and more affordable, for the benefit of Earth.