Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, announced this week that in the next five years, the burgeoning aerospace industry in Florida is on track to have an economic impact of over a billion dollars annually.

Already this year, 6,000 jobs across 15 companies have been added including 250 from OneWeb Satellites, 1,800 from Northrop Grumman and 52 from SIMCOM Aviation. Additionally there are undisclosed numbers of new employees at SpaceX and other companies.

The additional 150 projects across space-related industries should lead to even more jobs in 2023 with Space Florida expecting 12 to 15 projects being closed each year instead of the usual 6-8. The majority of these projects fall within the Melbourne-Orlando-Daytona triangle but some are scattered throughout the rest of Florida as well.

These new businesses come after 10,000 – 30,000 positions were lost due to Space Shuttle Program ending nearly ten years ago making Brevard County especially thankful for all efforts made by Space Florida towards recovery. With infrastructure contributions totaling over $2.7 billion since 2011 and plans for $10 billion by 2030, it appears that Brevard County will be transformed into a Silicon Valley East for space and aerospace technology centers soon enough.

According to Space Florida’s CEO Frank DiBello, the projects cover a wide range of industries from aviation to aerospace and even the space world. The state has invested nearly $64 million dollars over four years in building out infrastructure for Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at KSC as well as improving launch pads such as Launch Complex 36 for Blue Origin and Boeing Starliner Assembly Facility.

DiBello emphasizes that Space Florida is not an economic development agency but rather an enabler for new infrastructure in the state which makes it different than traditional agencies. He aims to bring Florida up from sixth or seventh place nationally in terms of its aerospace industry workforce by taking it up fourth or higher.

With their focus on knowledge-based operations shifting more towards manufacturing within the last five years, there are sure to be plenty of job opportunities available soon here in Titusville and the #SpaceCoast