United Launch Alliance revamps facility for Amazon satellite launches

Rocket company United Launch Alliance LLC is moving forward with construction plans on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station property to support launches of thousands of Amazon.com Inc. satellites. 

Centennial, Colorado-based United Launch Alliance and the U.S. Space Force on Feb. 1 filed an application with the state of Florida for a permit for “Kuiper SPOC,” improvements to United Launch Alliance's existing Spaceflight Processing Operations Center as part of its partnership with Seattle-based Amazon’s “Project Kuiper.”

United Launch Alliance will use its Vulcan Centaur rockets to perform 38 launches for Project Kuiper, Amazon’s 3,236-satellite constellation that will provide high-speed broadband access around the world. The first satellites will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in early 2023, Amazon announced in October. 

1,700 satellites to launch from Florida

To support this, United Launch Alliance aims to add to its Spaceflight Processing & Operations Center in Cape Canaveral, where the company preps rockets and payloads before launches.

According to the documents filed with the state, United Launch Alliance will add the following to an 8.2-acre site owned by the U.S. government:

The project timeline is unclear, as United Launch Alliance executives could not be reached for comment. Amazon deferred questions to United Launch Alliance.

Still, the documents show United Launch Alliance is beefing up its local facilities to handle the dozens of launches it is contracted to perform for Amazon. Project Kuiper will spark job creation at United Launch Alliance, which expects Project Kuiper to support hundreds of jobs at the company in Florida, Alabama and Colorado, CEO Tory Bruno previously said.

United Launch Alliance has 12 open positions in Cape Canaveral, according to its website. The roles primarily are high-wage engineer positions, though the job postings don't specify if they are for Project Kuiper.

Each Vulcan rocket can carry at least 45 satellites, which means the 38 launches will put at least 1,710 satellites into orbit — the majority of Amazon’s constellation. 

The only project consultant listed in the documents is Merritt Island-based Nelson Engineering Co.

Amazon's Project Kuiper

Last April, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) announced agreements with three companies to perform 83 satellite launches from 2023-2028: United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co.; Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin LLC (founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos) and French firm Arianespace SA. 

As of April 2022, 1,000 Amazon employees in unspecified markets were working on Project Kuiper, and “thousands” of suppliers from 49 U.S. states were supporting the initiative, per Amazon. 

Last year, the e-commerce giant announced it would build a 172,000-square-foot satellite factory in Kirkland, Washington, for Project Kuiper.

If Amazon’s plans to launch thousands of satellites into space to create a global broadband network sounds familiar, it’s because Elon Musk’s Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX already has begun to build its competing satellite constellation, Starlink. 

SpaceX routinely launches batches of Starlink satellites from the Space Coast aboard its Falcon 9 rockets, with 26 such launches in 2022, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. 

United Launch Alliance, Amazon and SpaceX are just a few of the companies doing aerospace work in Brevard County, home to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Launch and manufacturing operations of space companies like Chicago-based Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA); Kent, Blue Origin, Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Airbus Oneweb Satellites are concentrated in the county.

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