Terran Orbital to Build New $300M Manufacturing Plant on Florida’s Merritt Island

Terran Orbital Production Building Rendering

End-to-end satellite solutions provider Terran Orbital will build a 660,000-square foot space vehicle manufacturing facility on Florida’s Merritt Island. The startup company, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida, made the announcement alongside its partner organization Space Florida and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who touted Florida’s “Space Coast” economic revival plan.

Terran Orbital CEO Marc Bell told Via Satellite that the company is paying $300 million for the new facility through a financing conduit provided by Space Florida. “We expect the facility to open in 36 months,” said Bell, who is also Executive Chairman of PredaSAR and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, both Terran Orbital subsidiaries.

Terran Orbital will build the new structure at Merritt Island’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF). It will consist of ten automated and augmented hangers and feature a campus-based Artificial Intelligence-controlled supply chain, with 3D printing and additive manufacturing capabilities. The company said the facility will create approximately 2,100 new jobs and allow the company to produce “thousands of different types of space vehicles per year” by the end of 2025.

“I am excited to announce that Terran Orbital will be investing $300 million in the Space Coast to build the largest satellite manufacturing facility in the world,” said Governor DeSantis. “Satellite manufacturing is and will continue to be an important part of the economy in the Space Coast, and with this announcement we are upping the ante. In Florida we are going to continue to take the lead on space by investing in infrastructure, training highly skilled workers and maintaining an economic climate that allows companies like Terran Orbital to thrive.”