Boeing moves its Space and Launch headquarters to Florida
Boeing announced Wednesday it will be moving its Space and Launch division from Virginia to Florida.
The aircraft manufacturer intends on moving to Titusville, along the Florida's so-called Space Coast, by the end of the year. The area is home to several key spaceflight locations including Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center and the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base.
The Space and Launch division is under Boeing's Defense, Space & Security unit, which currently calls Arlington, Virginia, its home.
Boeing said the relocation is a move meant to "strengthen collaboration and integration across its portfolio," according to a release.
“Looking to the future, this storied Florida space community will be the center of gravity for Boeing’s space programs as we continue to build our company’s leadership beyond gravity,” Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in the statement. “The time is right for us to locate our space headquarters where so much of our space history was made over the past six decades and where so much history awaits.”
Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing, also announced the move during a keynote speech Wednesday that kicked off the "Space Summit" at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. The day-long event was held in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
“Now, as we see all of these programs transitioning from development to operation, now is the right time for us to make that transition,” Muilenburg said, during the question and answer portion of his keynote, according to SpaceNews.
Currently, the company is working on the CST-100 Starliner commercial spacecraft out of its facilities at the Kennedy Space Center.
The spacecraft is a reusable crew capsule designed to "accommodate seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo, for missions to low-Earth orbit," according to Boeing's website, as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. For operational missions to the International Space Station, which are planned for 2020, it could transport "four NASA-sponsored crew members and time-critical scientific research."
"Expanding our Boeing presence on the Space Coast brings tremendous value for our commercial and government space programs through focused leadership, strategic investment, customer proximity and additional contributions to the vitality of the region," said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Space and Launch, in a statement.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
Boeing said its move of Space and Launch division's headquarters is not expected to have any impact on its current space operations in other states.
"This great announcement affirms our state's position as a national leader in innovation and job growth and will bring increased investment to the Space Coast," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a tweet.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | THE BOEING CO. | 143.41 | -2.67 | -1.83% |