OneWeb to bring 250 jobs to Florida’s Space Coast facility costing $85M

Satellite company OneWeb will add momentum to a resurgent Florida space industry, moving its operations to an $85 million facility on the Space Coast near Kennedy Space Center, it announced today.

OneWeb founder Greg Wyler and OneWeb Satellites CEO Brian Holz joined Gov. Rick Scott and other space-industry leaders at the future site of the 100,000-square-foot manufacturing and testing facility at Exploration Park.

OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture with Airbus Defense and Space, plans to launch hundreds of telecommunications satellites, many of those from Florida’s Space Coast, during the next several years — with a goal to build 15 satellites a week here, Holz said.

Wyler said the goal of his company has been to build and launch satellites that will spread interconnectivity across the globe. Each satellite is designed to provide up to 10 Gbps bandwidth in internet satellite. OneWeb will also use its factory to produce technology, including satellites, for other commercial and government customers, the company said in an accompanying release.

The company is pioneering faster, more efficient satellite construction, Holz said — adding that expertise and experienced engineers from the Space Coast are needed, but the company is not trying to duplicate anything that already exists.

“We’re not necessarily trying to use a heritage process,” he said. “… It will be very automated.”

The deal will help Florida become a global leader in the industry, said Frank DiBello, president and CEO of Space Florida.

“Today we mark another significant step forward as we continue to write a history that marks the next step in space exploration in Florida,” DiBello said.

Local companies that make satellite components welcome OneWeb, said David Alexander, senior manager for business development at Harris Corp.

“It will still be competitive but having local suppliers and manufacturing cuts down on transportation costs and other costs,” he said.

David Glade, executive chairman at Intelsat, told the crowd that Intelsat would be supporting OneWeb. He said the need for new satellites is “not just about coverage but the quality of coverage.”

OneWeb hopes to eventually launch about 900 satellites, many from the Space Coast, in an effort to expand broadband access globally.

The Space Coast facility could eventually add more than 250 jobs to the region, as OneWeb ramps up production. The company has landed more than $500 million in investment from corporate behemoths like Airbus Group, Coca Cola and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

Space Florida, the economic development agency for the space industry, arranged about $20 million in state incentives for the project.

Holz joked that Exploration Park would need a donut shop soon for hungry engineers at OneWeb and across the street at the planned Blue Origin rocket manufacturing center.

OneWeb’s planned announcement follows the much-heralded news last fall that Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company, would build a $200 million facility that is expected to bring 330 jobs and break ground on Florida’s Space Coast this summer.

The impending arrival of Virgin Galactic to the region through OneWeb could create an ultra-competitive environment on the coast, as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin-Boeing’s United Launch Alliance already have a strong presence.

The move can make the region the space industry leader, as it eyes a return to the heady days before the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Since then, a private launch industry has emerged.

The hiring has some locals showing renewed hope. Harold Eagleson, 55, has a potential son-in-law working on a degree in engineering.

“I know he’d love to get a job for someone out here,” he said. The move “means good-paying jobs for the companies and services that support those industries. People don’t live in a vacuum. It will build on itself.”

OneWeb’s move will benefit the local economy and further solidify the state’s status as a spaceport, Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Commercial space companies are launching satellites and cargo to the International Space Station at a clip of about once a month.

Experts have said, however, that the pace should increase the rest of the year.

Gov. Scott told media after the event that a review of the state economic development agencies Space Florida, Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida is continuing.

“Space Florida has been doing a great job,” Scott said. “… We just need to make sure we get great returns.”

Paul Brinkmann contributed. msantana@orlandosentinel.com