WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Space Force awarded Blue Origin a $78.2 million contract to expand satellite processing capacity at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The three-year agreement, announced Oct. 7, was secured through a \u201cCommercial Solutions Opening\u201d (CSO) competition \u2014 a procurement method the government uses to attract private-sector innovation and share project costs with commercial partners.<\/p>\n
Building ground infrastructure at the nation\u2019s busiest spaceport is needed to keep up with surging launch demand, officials said.<\/p>\n
Blue Origin\u2019s contract marks the second CSO award of the year targeting satellite processing improvements. In April, Lockheed Martin\u2019s Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary received a $77.5 million contract<\/a> for similar work at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis second CSO award reflects our continued commitment to meet both national security and commercial launch requirements,\u201d said Col. Dan Highlander, director of operations integration at Space Systems Command\u2019s (SSC) Assured Access to Space directorate. \u201cThe public-private partnership behind the new capacity enables us to cost-share with commercial industry to our mutual benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottlenecks at the busiest spaceport<\/p>\n The launch cadence at the Florida spaceport has soared in recent years, and is expected to grow even further<\/a>, according to launch industry executives.<\/p>\n But while the range and launch pads can support more flights, the facilities where satellites are processed and readied for flight have struggled to keep up<\/a>. These cleanroom environments are where payloads undergo final testing, fueling and integration before being encapsulated atop rockets.<\/p>\n Officials say these facilities have become a major bottleneck. The challenge is amplified by the rise of SpaceX rideshare missions \u2014 where dozens of small satellites from different organizations share a single rocket. Each payload requires its own security measures, handling procedures, and testing timelines, placing heavy demand on limited cleanroom capacity.<\/p>\n