Amazon’s Project Kuiper building satellite-processing facility at Kennedy Space Center

Author: EIS Release Date: Aug 3, 2023

Amazon has announced – for its Project Kuiper satellite constellation – that construction is underway on a new satellite-processing facility at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center.

 

Amazon's Project Kuiper building satellite-processing facility at Kennedy Space Center

 

A constellation of over 3,200 LEO satellites is planned to planned to provide global broadband services.

 

The location at the Kennedy Space Center will be used to prepare and integrate Kuiper satellites with rockets from Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) ahead of launches. The manufacturing of the satellites will take place elsewhere, in Kirkland, Washington.

 

 

 

The new facility will be used to receive those satellite shipments from Washington, conduct final preparations ahead of launches, connect satellites to custom dispensers from Beyond Gravity, and integrate the loaded dispensers with launch vehicles.

 

 

 

The 100,000-square-foot centre features a 100-foot tall high bay clean room for the payload fairing of new heavy-lift rockets like Blue Origin’s New Glenn and ULA’s Vulcan Centaur.

 

Florida

The company highlights the facility stems from an expected partnership with Space Florida’s Spaceport Improvement Program, an investment matching initiative that aims to boost critical spaceport infrastructure in the state. It’s one of several Amazon investments Florida, it says.

 

Amazon said it is investing $120 million in construction and equipment, creating up to 50 new jobs on the Space Coast.

 

Amazon has secured 77 heavy-lift launch vehicles to deploy its satellite constellation, most of which will be provided by U.S. launch providers Blue Origin and ULA, with launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

 

“We have an ambitious plan to begin Project Kuiper’s full-scale production launches and early customer pilots next year, and this new facility will play a critical role in helping us deliver on that timeline,” said Steve Metayer, vp of Kuiper Production Operations.

 

“Adding Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite payload processing facility to the region’s growing industrial capability in commercial space is a testament to the power of building a statewide ecosystem that supports companies across the entire aerospace supply chain,” added Brian Huseman, vp of public policy and community engagement at Amazon.