A new Space Force partnership with Blue Origin aims to expand payload processing capacity at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., enabling the base to support as many as 16 more missions per year.
That includes seven to eight national security launches, a spokesperson for Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space directorate told Air & Space Forces Magazine Oct. 9.
The $78 million public-private partnership between Blue Origin and USSF includes investments from both parties to expand the company’s on the base by 2028.
“This arrangement allows the U.S. Space Force to increase its processing capacity for national security missions without taxpayers bearing the entire cost of construction or ongoing operations and maintenance,” the AATS spokesperson said.
The Space Force deferred questions about the project’s total cost to Blue Origin, which did not respond to questions about costs.
“We are proud to work with the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command to construct a new Payload Processing Facility supporting multiple launch vehicle providers on Florida’s Space Coast,” the firm said in a statement. “This partnership will enhance Blue Origin’s capabilities to operate more efficiently and expand our capacity to support a higher launch cadence to meet customer needs.”
Payload processing encompasses integration, testing, and fueling necessary to prepare a satellite for launch.
The Space Force’s ranges at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., are among the busiest spaceports in the world. Annual launch rates at the two hubs have spiked, rising from fewer than 20 missions in 2020 to a projected 220 this year.
Amid that higher launch cadence, limited payload processing capacity is now a “bottleneck” responsible for delays and schedule congestion, according to Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for assured access to space and the commander of the Space Force’s ranges. During a December 2024 Spacepower Conference in Orlando, Fla., she said USSF was seeking solutions, including investing more in processing services.
The award to Blue Origin is part of that effort.
In April, the Space Force awarded $77 million to Astrotech Space Operations to expand its processing facility at Vandenberg. The contracts were issued under the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Space Vehicle Processing Commercial Solutions Opening.
The AATS spokesperson said the service will consider additional awards once Congress approves appropriations for fiscal 2026.
Blue Origin is one of three companies approved to launch military space missions, though its New Glenn rocket has yet to be formally certified by the Space Force. The rocket flew for the first time in January, and its second mission, a NASA payload, could launch later this month.
