In an ambitious move, Amazon, in collaboration with state officials, has declared its plans to erect a high-tech satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Backed by $120 million budget, this expansive 100,000-square-foot complex will be the keystone of Amazon’s Kuiper initiative.

The company envisions creating up to 80 satellites per month to form the Project Kuiper constellation. Amazon plans to manufacture operational Kuiper satellites at a new facility in Kirkland, Washington, in the coming six months. The satellites will then be processed at a 100,000-square-foot facility currently under construction at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, exclusively dedicated to the Kuiper program.

The Florida facility, situated near the former space shuttle landing strip, will be used to affix Kuiper satellites to gigantic orbital deployer mechanisms. Standing several stories high, these mechanisms will then be encapsulated within the rockets’ nose cones. Fully integrated payload compartments will then be transported to launch pads run by United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Amazon is investing approximately $120 million in this new Florida facility, which can accommodate up to three simultaneous launch campaigns. The company is leasing the land from NASA through Space Florida, a state-funded agency to attract commercial space companies to the state.

To meet the 2026 deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission for network authorization, Amazon aims to deploy about half of its 3,236 satellites, requiring at least two launches per month. Amazon has secured 77 commercial launch contracts with ULA, Blue Origin, and Arianespace. The launch schedule will start with ULA’s Vulcan rocket, the European-built Ariane 6, and finally, Blue Origin’s New Glenn.