to Mars
Cape Canaveral . The region is home to heavy hitters , including Embraer , Harris Corporation and Northrop Grumman . These companies and others have been integral in cultivating a highly skilled workforce .
Before 2004 , the region excelled in launch operations , but when President George W . Bush moved to decommission the space shuttle program , Brevard County had a problem on its hands . However , with advance warning , the Economic Development Commission of Florida ’ s Space Coast , CareerSource Brevard and other local economic development organizations in partnership with city , county and state government and academic , corporate and community leaders , as well as The Corridor , were able to successfully transition the region to the next chapter of the local space industry – manufacturing and commercial space flight .
Partnership at a level unique to The Corridor aided in this transition and the fruits of such labor to re-energize a potentially devastated economy have been the likes of SpaceX and Blue Origin as newcomers to the Space Coast .
“ As a kid , I was inspired by the giant Saturn V missions that roared to life from these [ Cape Canaveral ] shores ,” said Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos . “ Now , we are thrilled to be coming to the Sunshine State for a new era of exploration . One of the unique things about our Florida operations is that we aren ’ t just launching here , we ’ re building here . At Exploration Park , we ’ ll have a 21st century production facility where we ’ ll focus on manufacturing our reusable fleet of orbital launchers and readying them for flight again and again .” florida . HIGH . TECH 2017 41