Blue Origin announces $600M Florida expansion, FAA clears New Glenn for launch

Blue Origin will invest $600 million in Florida’s Merritt Island to expand its Rocket Park manufacturing complex under Project Horizon, a new 830,000-square-foot facility dedicated to producing upper stages for its New Glenn rockets. The project will support 500 aerospace jobs with average salaries exceeding $98,000, reinforcing Florida’s role as a leader in advanced manufacturing. The land, owned by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, will also include a stormwater management system, with permitting approved by the St. Johns Water Management District in March 2026. The expansion follows Blue Origin’s decade-long growth in Florida, where it now employs nearly 4,000 workers across 11 sites in Brevard and Orange Counties and has invested over $2.3 billion with local suppliers. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis praised the move, calling it proof of the state’s business-friendly environment, which has attracted aerospace companies since NASA’s 2011 Space Shuttle shutdown. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets, standing over 321 feet tall, are built at Rocket Park and launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36. The company marked its third New Glenn launch on April 19, 2026, though the rocket’s upper stage failed to deploy as intended. Despite the setback, the first-stage booster successfully landed on the drone ship *Jacklyn* in the Atlantic Ocean, demonstrating progress in reusable rocket technology. The FAA cleared Blue Origin to resume launches following the incident, allowing the company to proceed with future missions. CEO Dave Limp emphasized the expansion as the next phase of Blue Origin’s commitment to Florida, highlighting its long-term investment in the state’s aerospace industry. The project aligns with broader efforts to strengthen Florida’s Space Coast as a hub for rocket manufacturing and launches.