This contract award represents part of a broader national effort to boost America’s space launch capacity amid record commercial and defence demand.
The three-year public–private partnership, announced on 7 October, will see Blue Origin design and construct a payload processing facility (PPF) capable of handling complex spacecraft preparations before launch.
The contract was awarded through the Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) program, a procurement pathway that encourages innovation by co-funding infrastructure with private industry.
According to Space Force officials, the new facility will provide crucial support for both national security missions and the booming commercial satellite sector, which has seen unprecedented launch cadence at Cape Canaveral over the past five years.
Colonel Dan Highlander, director of operations integration for SSC’s Assured Access to Space directorate, detailed the importance of the program, saying, “This second CSO award reflects our continued commitment to meet both national security and commercial launch requirements. The public–private partnership behind the new capacity enables us to cost-share with commercial industry to our mutual benefit.”
Blue Origin’s new PPF will enable a range of pre-launch processing tasks, including satellite fuelling, battery charging, loading of gaseous and liquid commodities and encapsulation within payload fairings.
The facility will feature cleanroom-grade assembly bays, secure high-bay workspaces, and specialised systems for handling toxic propellants and explosive materials, all critical capabilities for military and high-value commercial spacecraft.
The new infrastructure will be located on Space Force property at Cape Canaveral, separate from Blue Origin’s existing Rocket Park campus, which sits adjacent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The facility is expected to reach initial operational capability by early 2028.
Cape Canaveral has rapidly evolved into the world’s busiest launch site, with more than 90 launches expected in 2025, a number projected to continue climbing as companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance ramp up operations to meet US military, intelligence and commercial satellite demand.
The US Space Force’s Space Systems Command, headquartered in Los Angeles, oversees the National Security Space Launch program, the main vehicle for contracting private industry to deliver payloads into orbit.
Blue Origin’s award follows a similar US$77.5 million (AU$118.9 million) contract granted in April 2025 to Lockheed Martin’s Astrotech Space Operations for expanding satellite processing capacity at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.