Jeff Bezos, founder of Internet retail giant Amazon and rocket firm Blue Origin, shared images and and a brief update about the the rocket manufacturing facility being built in Florida. "The team has made extraordinary progress — as you can see, the first steel is going up," Bezos said via email.
The company broke ground in June for the facility.
One image shows blue steel pipes forming part of what will be the 750,000-square-foot facility that will build Blue Origin's rockets, which later will be launched from Cape Canaveral. The Kent-based company in 2015 announced it was coming to Brevard County.
The $205 million facility will be complete by the end of 2017. The facility will lead to 330 jobs that pay an average annual salary of $89,000. Within 10 years, Blue Origin will launch its orbital vehicles from launch complex 36 in Cape Canaveral.
Jacksonville-based Haskell Co. is the design/build team for Blue Origin's facility. Haskell and Blue Origin told Orlando Business Journal that they don't have an update on bid packages for subcontractors yet.
