Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses the attendees at the Firefly Aerospace press conference at Cape Canaveral on Friday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL—Firefly Aerospace, Inc. of Austin, TX, a provider of launch vehicles, spacecraft and in-space services, is planning to spend $52 million at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport here to foster its efforts to harness the commercial potential of space exploration.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the company's planned capital investment at a press event on Friday. The company plans to establish a new launch and manufacturing facility that will give Firefly the capability to locally manufacture, test and launch rockets delivering commercial payloads.

The project will involve the development of approximately 180,000 square feet of launch and manufacturing facilities in Exploration Park at Cape Canaveral Seaport with the option to double the footprint. The capital investment on more than 18 acres is expected to create more than 200 jobs with positions that will have an average salary of $70,000.

“As the world's premiere gateway to space, Florida remains the preferred launch site for sending humans and cargo into space,” said Gov. DeSantis. “Firefly's decision to establish launch and manufacturing activities on Florida's Space Coast confirms the commercial advantages of conducting business in our state and reaffirms Florida's position as a national leader in innovation and job growth.”

The redevelopment of Space Launch Complex 20 will add new orbital launch capacity to Cape Canaveral Spaceport, state officials stated. Additionally, the redevelopment of the historic launch complex will result in activation of a state-of-the-art small satellite launch vehicle launch pad and new propellant servicing, electrical and communications capabilities.

The project also directly supports small satellite and large constellation launch operations at Cape Canaveral Spaceport. In 2018, Space Florida entered into a Right of Entry agreement with the United States Air Force to allow Space Florida to enable the redevelopment of the historic 30-acre site for commercial launch.

Led by its CEO Tom Markusic, Firefly Aerospace is majority owned by Noosphere Ventures, the strategic venture arm of Noosphere Global. Firefly is on track to deliver a US solution for the 1,000 to 4,000 kg payload class in 2019.

In November 2018, Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (Firefly), was selected by NASA for award of a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract acquire end-to-end commercial payload services between the Earth and the lunar surface of the moon for NASA Headquarters' Science, Human Exploration and Operations, and Space Technology Mission Directorates (SMD, HEOMD, and STMD).

NASA has made multiple awards of Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts with the ability to issue Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) task orders. The contracts will have an effective ordering period of 10 years from the contract's effective date of Jan. 2, 2019 or sooner. The maximum cumulative value of all CLPS task order awards is $2.6 billion over the life of the contract. The multiple CLPS contract award winners are now eligible to compete for specific task order awards including the first commercially provided NASA science payload delivery mission to the moon. The start of the competition for the first CLPS full lunar mission task order award is expected to be announced by NASA in the near future.

On Feb. 15, Space Florida announced its “Call for Projects” to solicit proposals to continue the development of space transportation infrastructure that supports Space Florida's legislative intent and Florida spaceport territory master plans. Each year, Space Florida issues this Call for Projects to allow the aerospace industry the opportunity to submit projects for consideration into the subsequent year's Work Program and Spaceport Improvement Program. This year, Space Florida will be accepting Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching Fund applications for fiscal years (FY) 2021 to 2025.

Applications for FY21-25, as well as updates to previously submitted FY20 projects are due Wednesday, April 17, 2019. Applications are accepted on a continuous basis for future fiscal years. Applications and additional information can be found at https://www.spaceflorida.gov/page/call-for-projects

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Firefly Aerospace to Spend $52M to Advance Space Exploration

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