Florida Governor Rick Scott was among federal and state officials at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for a commercial space announcement. Photo Credit/NASA Photo
The Boeing Co. will consolidate its commercial crew space transportation operations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center under an agreement announced on Monday that will open more than 200,000 square feet of former space shuttle processing facilities to the aerospace giant under a lease agreement with Space Florida, the state’s aerospace development arm.
The agreement could create up to 550 jobs over the next four years — if Boeing wins a NASA contract to transport astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.
Boeing could be operational in the late 2015, early 2016 timeframe.
Boeing's CST-100 approaches the International Space Station in this illustration. Image Credit/Boeing
SpaceX, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin are also designing transportation services under NASA’s competitive Commercial Crew Development initiative. NASA hopes to nurture at least two commercial providers with agency funds to assume the transportation duties once assigned to the space shuttle fleet.
The Boeing/ Space Florida 15-year base lease agreement includes refurbishment to the former shuttle OPF-Bay 3 and shuttle main engine processing areas of Kennedy for the assembly of the CST-100. Boeing’s reusable space capsule would carry up to seven astronauts or cargo to the space station or to the smaller, inflatable orbital habitats envisioned by Bigelow Aerospace. Bigelow’s prospective customers include sovereign nations without national space programs and private companies with space research strategies.
“We selected Florida due to the cost benefits achieved with consolidated operations, the skilled local workforce and proximity to our NASA customer,” said John Mulholland, vice president and general manager, Commercial Programs for Boeing Space Exploration.
“This positions our state well for future growth and a leadership role in NASA’s next generation human space flight initiative,” said Frank DiBello, Space Florida’s president.