Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Is Building an Engine Factory in Alabama’s ‘Rocket City’

[Steve Stinson]

Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Is Building an Engine Factory in Alabama’s ‘Rocket City’

Kate SamuelsonUpdated 27 June 2017

Jeff Bezos‘ space company Blue Origin will hire up to 342 new jobs to Huntsville, Ala., for a new state-of-the art production facility that will be built there.

Governor Kay Ivey announced Monday that Blue Origin plans to manufacture its BE-4 engine--which will power United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket as well as Blue Origin's New Glenn reusable launch system--in a new facility in Cummings Research Park, which is located primarily in Huntsville a.k.a. Rocket City. The space company is expected to make around $200 million in capital investment in the state.

Construction of the new building will begin once a contract with United Launch Alliance has been finalized and the City and County governments give their final public approval, Gov. Ivey said during his speech at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration in Huntsville.

"Alabama is a great state for aerospace manufacturing and we are proud to produce America's next rocket engine right here in Rocket City," Robert Meyerson, President of Blue Origin, said in a statement. "The area's skilled workforce and leading role in rocket propulsion development make Huntsville the ideal location for our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.”

“I must commend founder Jeff Bezos and company President Robert Meyerson for their vision to create this innovative company, and for choosing to make Alabama its home sweet home,” said Gov. Ivey. “Because of this investment, more Alabamians can provide a better living for their families, and it helps cement Alabama as the preferred destination for the aerospace industry."

See original article on Fortune.com