26: SPACE COAST LIVING | SPACECOASTLIVING.COM
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
CELEBRATES 60 YEARS
average annual wage well above $90,000
— to the area between 2018 and 2019.
In a little more than a decade, business
was back as usual as more industries, the
likes of OneWeb, Boeing and Lockheed
Martin, nurtured a rebound that has
spread to all sectors of the economy.
Brevard’s revitalized connection with the
space industry continues in orbit, and
there is no chance of losing trajectory
as space contractors continue choosing
the Space Coast for their base of operations.
Late last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis
announced Terran Orbital’s decision to
locate its commercial spacecraft and
constellation facility on Merritt Island.
“Terran Orbital will be investing $300
million in the Space Coast to build the
largest satellite manufacturing facility in
the world,” DeSantis said.
The project is expected to create approximately
2,100 jobs with an estimated annual
average wage of $84,000 by late 2025.
Terran Orbital’s new campus will enable
the company to manufacture the satellite
through its complete lifecycle from
space vehicle assembly and printed
circuit board assembly manufacturing
to harness and cabling production and
qualification and acceptance testing.
“Satellite manufacturing is and will
continue to be an important part of the
economy in the Space Coast, and with
this announcement we are upping the
ante,” DeSantis added.
ALL-IN-ONE CENTER
Earlier in 2021, Lockheed Martin opened
its Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource
STAR Center at what was once
the Astronaut Training Experience
attraction in Titusville. Lockheed Martin
assembles the Orion spacecraft for
the Artemis I and II Moon missions at
the nearby Neil Armstrong Operations
and Checkout O&C building at NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center. The addition of
the STAR Center provides much-needed
space for the new production phase of
Orion, allowing future Orion spacecraft
— starting with the Artemis III mission —
to be built faster.
Lockheed Martin spent 18 months and
nearly $20 million renovating and modernizing
the 55,000-square-foot space.
“The STAR Center is a spacecraft factory
of the future and is the centerpiece of
our commitment to build sustainable and
affordable capabilities for NASA to send
astronauts to explore the Moon and eventually
Mars,” said Lisa Callahan, Commercial
Civil Space vice president and general
manager at Lockheed Martin Space.
“We are using advanced manufacturing
capabilities and digital-first technologies
to speed production and improve quality
to get Orion from factory to space faster
than ever before.”
There is a good reason The Washington
Post called Brevard the Comeback Coast.
Like the visionaries who launched America
into space, the people of the Space
Coast are far-sighted and enterprising.
“This is just the beginning,” said Jamal
Sowell, state secretary of Commerce and
the president and CEO of Enterprise Florida
Inc., about Terran Orbital’s decision.
Sowell’s statement could also well apply
to the future of the Space Coast.
/www.internationaltitle.biz
/SPACECOASTLIVING.COM