Blue Origin, the space exploration company started by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, may get an $8 million grant to build rockets for future space flight at Florida’s planned Exploration Park.
The company is reportedly considering three states for its “Project Panther” rocket facility — Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. It could spend up to $220 million on the facility.
The grant would come from Brevard County, Florida, which has seen an economic downturn since the decommissioning of the space shuttle in 2011. According to Florida Today, the county commissioners voted late last month to approve the $8 million grant for Blue Origin, as well as two separate incentives totalling $5.7 million for aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. The funding will face another vote from county officials after details are finalized.
The planned Exploration Park, located near the Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, is currently leasing space for research and industrial facilities that can leverage the community’s history “as the birthplace of space research and exploration.”
Blue Origin has said it would employ 330 people at the manufacturing site, which would help build new rockets being developed by the Kent, Washington-based company. Blue Origin’s launched its first rocket earlier this year in western Texas.
