JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis paid a visit to Jacksonville on Friday morning to make a “major announcement."
During a visit to the Made in Space, Inc. facility on Philips Highway, DeSantis announced that the company, which develops space manufacturing technology, will relocate its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to Jacksonville.
DeSantis said Made in Space will invest more than $3 million into the new facility. It’s operated in Jacksonville in the Baymeadows Business Center since 2015. It was founded in 2010 in Mountain View, California.
“I’m really happy that Made in Space is here in Jacksonville,” DeSantis said. “I think that this is great for the community and i think that what they’re doing, by doing some of this manufacturing in space, is really cutting edge. I think it has prospects for doing a whole host of great things.”
Made in Space is the first company to manufacture hardware outside of Earth.
CEO Andrew Rush told News4Jax’s partner the Jacksonville Daily Record that the move will add jobs in Jacksonville. He said the company has already hired 50 employees and expects to hire more. The facility in Jacksonville can employ 150 people, and there are more than 70 currently in Jacksonville.
“We’re proud to make Jacksonville our new corporate home and look forward to many years of constructive partnership with the state and the Jacksonville community,” Rush said during a news conference.
LINK: Search open positions at Made in Space
As of Friday, job listings on the website included engineering and administrative positions. Internships were also being offered for summer.
The company is also eyeing Cecil Spaceport as a future location to build a larger satellite factory.
A big reason for the move is Jacksonville’s close proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Made In Space now joins other aerospace companies that have relocated some operations to Florida like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.