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KENT, Washington – Construction workers have installed the roof of a new headquarters and research and development center for Blue Origin, the private space company founded by the company's CEO. Amazon, Jeff Bezos.
For now, the roof protects a piece of bare concrete laid on 15 acres of land here in Kent, about 16 km south of Seattle. But do not be fooled by the Spartan context: even on a Saturday, helmeted workers were making progress in what should become a 236,000 square foot warehouse-style building and more than 100,000 square feet of office space.
Blue Origin bought the site, located across the street, at the company's production facility and headquarters, which is 26 acres in 2017, for $ 14.1 million. . The company also uses a 120,000 square foot warehouse just up the street.
The Bezos company left a clue on the future role of the construction site earlier this month in a tweet:
We went vertical with our new headquarters and R & D center in Kent, WA! We continue to add to our world-class team and are excited about building a great new facility that will allow for rapid growth. Thank you to the Mayor @dana_ralph and @cityofkent as well as all the people involved in the construction. pic.twitter.com/SjUa8fEvpM
– Blue origin (@blueorigin) April 11, 2019
Blue Origin did not immediately respond to a request for additional information, such as the total cost of the project or the schedule of execution, but we will update this report with everything we have heard. . For what it is worth, Kent's building permits list Sierra Construction as one of the main contractors for Blue Origin's "Farmland Project", although the works are not listed among the projects listed on the Sierra website.
As reported on Twitter, Blue Origin is facing a rapid expansion: since last summer, its workforce was estimated at more than 1,500 people, and an unidentified source according to Reuters said that number could double over the next two years. Nearly 500 job vacancies are currently listed on the Blue Origin Careers website. And almost all of these jobs are based in Kent.
In addition to expanding Kent's head office, Blue Origin is preparing to produce its new orbital class New Glenn rocket at its 750,000-square-foot Florida facility. The first takeoff from a nearby launch facility is scheduled for 2021. Last month, the company acknowledged that the plant site in Florida was to be expanded in the coming year.
Blue Origin also inaugurated a 200,000 square foot rocket engine manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama. The plant will produce BE-4 engines for New Glenn and the new generation of United Launch Alliance's semi-reusable Vulcan. rocket. This month, Blue Origin has signed a new contract with NASA for the renovation and use of a test bench near the Marshall Space Flight Center.
In addition to the New Glenn and BE-4 projects, Blue Origin is testing a suborbital spacecraft called New Shepard in western Texas to hire people later this year. There is also a Blue Moon Lunar Landing project that is expected to gain more space in the spotlight due to NASA's accelerated schedule for its moon missions.
New Shepard spacecraft and their hydrogen BE-3 engines are being built in Kent and shipped to Texas for testing and launch. The BE-4 engines will also be built in Kent and tested in Texas, at least until the commissioning of the Alabama plant.
Based on all that Bezos and its space company intend to achieve over the next two years, the Kent Expansion Project should be run in line with Blue Origin's motto: "Gradatim Ferociter", which means in Latin "step by step". not, fiercely. "
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