{"id":201310,"date":"2026-03-22T11:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T11:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/201310\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T11:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T11:20:20","slug":"floridas-slice-of-nasas-artemis-pie-nets-thousands-of-jobs-billions-of-dollars-each-year-sun-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/201310\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s slice of NASA\u2019s Artemis pie nets thousands of jobs, billions of dollars each year \u2013 Sun Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

A shiny black box no bigger than a car battery sits on a table in the back of a lab in Clearwater. Across the state, its sister hardware is installed on the Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, ready to launch on the Artemis II moon mission.<\/p>\n

Built by Honeywell Aerospace, this small device is the spacecraft\u2019s Inertial Measurement Unit, filled with gyroscopes and sensors designed to figure out just where in space the capsule is located at any moment. Kendall Bjorge, the company\u2019s senior program director, ranks it among the most valuable things on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would argue that it\u2019s the No. 1 thing, because if all else fails in that capsule, besides life support, that box is going to get them back to the Earth,\u201d Bjorge said during a recent tour of the company\u2019s campus near Tampa.<\/p>\n

His coworkers then dived into a healthy debate of whether it ranks higher than the display units and hand controllers the Artemis II astronauts will use during the planned 10-day mission to fly around the moon.<\/p>\n

Both items are manufactured by Honeywell, which supplies them to Orion\u2019s main contractor Lockheed Martin for the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\"OrionOrion Inertial Measurement Unit during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

When asked to put a value on the IMU, Bjorge replied, \u201cpriceless,\u201d but explained each one could cost several million dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certain card assemblies that go into that unit over there that are the price of your house. And there\u2019s 14 of them in there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

About 300 of the 1,700 employees based at\u00a0Honeywell Aerospace\u2019s sprawling campus south of Tampa have had their hands on NASA\u2019s hardware contracts.\u00a0It\u2019s an example of how far the tendrils of the Artemis program extend across the Sunshine State, even to places hundreds of miles from the Space Coast.<\/p>\n

All told, Florida has reaped more than 13,000 jobs and $3 billion in annual spending from the controversial, oft-delayed but historic Artemis effort, according to the most recent NASA estimates. That makes it one of the most lucrative cash cows in state history \u2014 and one that keeps on giving.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s overall Artemis-related annual spending has grown since 2020 to the $6 billion to 8 billion range each year, with Florida seeing increased jobs and economic impact as the program grows.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking for the next generation to come up through and be a space nerd and love space and love the technology,\u201d said Bjorge. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a rocket scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeding Artemis<\/p>\n

Artemis, 16 years in the making, is the nation\u2019s moon-to-Mars program. But so far it\u2019s launched just a single mission, the uncrewed Artemis I flight that orbited the moon in late 2022.<\/p>\n

The second mission, Artemis II, will be the first crewed flight of Orion, a lunar fly-by, that could launch as soon as April 1. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently announced a revamp of the planned future flights to increase the launch rate to as fast as once every 10 months.<\/p>\n

Artemis III, originally targeted to be the nation\u2019s return to the lunar surface, is now set to fly a mission close to Earth in mid-2027 to test out Orion\u2019s ability to dock with landers. It wouldn\u2019t be until Artemis IV in early 2028 that NASA will send a crewed lunar lander to the surface, marking humans\u2019 first return since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.<\/p>\n

Taxpayers have spent more than $100 billion on the program across its various platforms, and its costs and continued delays have faced criticism that it\u2019s not so much a space program as a jobs program.<\/p>\n

NASA touts that every state plus Puerto Rico has a hand in the moon rocket.<\/p>\n

\"NASA'sNASA\u2019s estimated moon-to-Mars program employment impacts by state as of 2023\u2019s fiscal year. (Courtesy\/NASA)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Florida\u2019s take?<\/p>\n

Of NASA\u2019s 2,749 government jobs across the nation working on Artemis, 688, or 25%, were based in Florida according to a 2024 report, amounting to $123.2 million in annual income.<\/p>\n

Adding other direct jobs such as contractors and indirect jobs generated within the community, Florida\u2019s overall total comes to 13,123, amounting to $1.1 billion in annual income for the state with the positions averaging about $84,000 a year. That translates into $94.2 million in state and local government taxes, NASA says. As far as money flowing to Florida-based companies, NASA tallied $883.9 million in 2023 for contracted work on parts and support for Artemis.<\/p>\n

All in all, Artemis had a combined economic output total for Florida of $3 billion in fiscal year 2023, the most recent year for which that total has been released, making up more than a third of NASA\u2019s overall economic impact in the state.<\/p>\n

\"NASA'sNASA\u2019s estimated moon-to-Mars program output impacts by state in millions of dollars as of 2023\u2019s fiscal year. (Courtesy\/NASA)<\/p>\n

Who gets the money?<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Office of the Inspector General assessed the massive supply chain that feeds into Artemis in an October 2023 audit, which found the agency pays 860 contractors across the nation to directly support the program.<\/p>\n

Those include five prime contractors \u2014 Lockheed Martin for the Orion spacecraft, Boeing for the rocket\u2019s core stage, Northrop Grumman for the solid rocket boosters, Amentum for ground systems, and L3Harris for the engines \u2014 which among them paid more than total 3,200 subcontractors across the U.S. to get their work done.<\/p>\n

Lockheed Martin has two facilities in Florida to support Orion: the STAR Center in Titusville and the Operations & Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center. It employs 280 people at those two locations, but another 320 people are employed among the 47 suppliers working there.<\/p>\n

The Florida-based machine feeding the Orion supply chain includes Honeywell Aerospace in Clearwater as well as All Points Service-Disabled Veteran Small Business in Merritt Island and Avnet, Inc. in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest investments in Florida comes from NASA\u2019s Exploration Ground Systems. Its prime contractor, Amentum, employs nearly 2,800 people at KSC, who have their hands on nearly every piece of hardware that comes into the space center.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Aerojet Rocketdyne, bought by L3Harris 2023, has had 400 of its 500 employees at the upper stage RL-10 engine production facility in West Palm Beach involved in the Artemis program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been flying these engines for more than 60 years now. So it\u2019s very reliable,\u201d said Kristin Houston of L3Harris.\u00a0\u201cIt has been proven to have precise operations, really making sure the payload gets exactly bullseye insertion, where it needs to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

That West Palm location also builds turbo pumps for the core stage RS-25 engines while relying on businesses around the state to feed its own supply lines, including a 3D printer in Daytona Beach and a machine shop in Stuart.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely have a good footprint between us and our supply base across Florida,\u201d Houston said.<\/p>\n

\"LeftLeft to Right, RS-25 engine controller for the SLS; and the previous generation controller from the Space Shuttle (serial number: 2); during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Honeywell Aerospace has its hands on parts other than Orion\u2019s at its Clearwater facility. It works with L3Harris building the RS-25 engine controllers. Those companies each have their own suppliers with additional employees, even for as simple a step as getting unique parts from a small machine shop in Oldsmar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the local businesses that we use to facilitate our testing aspects, our fixturing, our components,\u201d Bjorge said. \u201cI would say it\u2019s a significant part of the pie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space program or jobs program?<\/p>\n

Throughout the program, Florida\u2019s benefits have come at the federal taxpayer\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

Not counting the billions in development spent in the last 16 years, NASA\u2019s Office of the Inspector General estimates each launch of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft\u00a0at KSC costs about $4 billion. In comparison, each launch of the Space Shuttle grew to $1.45 billion by the program\u2019s end in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a complex system that has received a lot of criticism for its complexity, and it is certainly behind schedule,\u201d said UCF professor Greg Autry, the university\u2019s \u201cSpace Czar.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot of the rising costs stem from how the contracts were created among the legacy companies that worked on Artemis, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, he said. Instead of a fixed price, NASA relied on what\u2019s called a cost-plus contract, which allows companies to continue to pull in money if faced with development delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery component of this is behind schedule. It\u2019s not like it\u2019s this vendor or that vendor, or the rocket or the lander or the capsule,\u201d Autry said. \u201cAll these things have taken more time than any of us would have hoped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some aspects of Artemis, such as Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon and SpaceX\u2019s Starship lunar landers, are fixed-price. NASA has sought to transition to that approach where it can as the program ballooned toward $100 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the case of the fixed-price contracts, the vendors are eating it, of course,\u201d Autry said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any doubt that SpaceX has probably spent a lot more on Starship than they\u2019re getting paid for the lander program, but that\u2019s their problem. On the other programs, it\u2019s often the taxpayer\u2019s problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The end result, however, has been manufacturing jobs spread across the nation, a tried-and-true approach to keep members of Congress supportive of expensive projects. Autry noted that space has been one of the few areas where America has kept its manufacturing base and continued to be a global leader. But that\u2019s been both good and bad under Artemis, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe geographic distribution, particularly when it\u2019s used as a political tool to try to gain support for a program \u2014 not based on its actual performance, but based on whether it\u2019s in your district or not \u2014 that\u2019s unfortunate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s piece of the Artemis pie, while significant, trails Alabama, California, Texas and Colorado in both dollars and jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad to see people across the country engaged in working on it, but I\u2019m not I\u2019m not necessarily happy to see it flouted as a jobs program instead of a success for the American taxpayers\u2019 investment,\u201d Autry said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t warm my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where does Florida fit in the future?<\/p>\n

Autry has applauded Isaacman\u2019s push to speed up Artemis launch rates, and sees the potential for more reliance on commercial companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin to accomplish the nation\u2019s moon goals.<\/p>\n

While that might mean less money in all 50 states\u2019 pockets, Autry thinks Florida is in a good position no matter how it plays out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a sustainable competitive advantage,\u201d Autry said. \u201cAny smart company is either moving out of the West Coast to Texas or to Florida, just how it is \u2026 I spent my whole life and career in California, and honestly, their elected officials just don\u2019t care about space.\u201d<\/p>\n

And with the recent manufacturing wins such as SpaceX\u2019s $1.8 billion foray to build a Starship factory at KSC and Blue Origin\u2019s $3 billion investment for the New Glenn rockets and moon lander facilities in Merritt Island, the state\u2019s helping of space dollars and jobs should continue to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida isn\u2019t quite as hip and cool to live in as Southern California, probably, but it\u2019s a lot happier and cooler than some other areas where rockets are made,\u201d he said. \u201cI take it over Texas or Alabama myself any day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

Stephen Doerbecker, Program Manager for Orion Space System, talks about the Display Unit for Orion \u2014 Honeywell Aerospace tour of their Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Honeywell<\/p>\n

Honeywell Aerospace Senior Program Director Kendall Bjorge talks about the vehicle management computer during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Controls<\/p>\n

Controls for Orion, including switch interface panels; rotational hand controllers; cursor control device; translational hand controller; and a display unit; during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"RS-25<\/p>\n

RS-25 engine controller for the SLS during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

Stephen Doerbecker, Program Manager for Orion Space System, demonstrates the abort button on the rotational hand controller (RHC) during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Controls<\/p>\n

Controls for Orion, including switch interface panels; rotational hand controllers; cursor control device; and translational hand controller; during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Vehicle<\/p>\n

Vehicle management computer during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"RS-25<\/p>\n

RS-25 engine controller for the SLS during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A translational hand controller during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Left<\/p>\n

Left to Right, RS-25 engine controller the Space Shuttle (serial number: 2); during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rotational<\/p>\n

Rotational hand controller (RHC) during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A cursor control device during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Vehicle<\/p>\n

Vehicle management computer during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Barometric<\/p>\n

Barometric altimeter during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Controls<\/p>\n

Controls for Orion, including switch interface panels; rotational hand controllers; cursor control device; translational hand controller; and a display unit; during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"Left<\/p>\n

Left to Right, RS-25 engine controller for the SLS; and the previous generation controller from the Space Shuttle (serial number: 2); during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

\"GPSR<\/p>\n

GPSR during a tour of the Honeywell Aerospace Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 17<\/p>\n

Stephen Doerbecker, Program Manager for Orion Space System, talks about the Display Unit for Orion \u2014 Honeywell Aerospace tour of their Clearwater, Fla. facility where mission-critical systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are designed, built, and tested, on Friday, February 27, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)\n<\/p>\n

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