Main Engine Cut OffFlorida 2017 Budget Proposal Includes $17 Million for Blue Origin’s Launch Complex 36
James Dean for Florida Today:
The governor's office said the budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year starting July 1 includes $34 million for launch complex improvements that “will help attract more commercial activity to the area.”
Space Florida confirmed the total includes $17 million from the Florida Department of Transportation to help prepare Launch Complex 36, a state-run pad last used in 2005, into a site for Blue Origin's giant New Glenn orbital rockets. The company also plans to build an engine test stand, incorporating the adjacent Launch Complex 11.
Blue Origin, the private space firm started by Amazon.com’s billionaire founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, will match the state’s investment, resulting in the $34 million budget figure cited by the state.
Later in the article, Dean mentions that Blue Origin is expected to put more than $200 million in total into new facilities in the area, which includes their presence out at the launch complexes and their buildings at Exploration Park, where they’ll manufacture New Glenn.