Orlando Business Journal By Matthew Richardson 5/17/2018
In the 1950s, a race ignited between the United States and Russia to see which country would be the first to launch into outer space, which resulted in the Americans successfully landing astronauts on the moon in 1969.
Nearly 50 years later, a new space race is heating up — this time between American companies SpaceX, The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT). The firms are going head-to-head to be the first to complete spacecraft that will send astronauts back into space from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011.
Much of that competition is centered right here on Florida’s Space Coast, helping metro Orlando secure a larger slice of the global $380 billion space industry. Since the NASA Space Shuttle program’s 40-year legacy ended seven years ago, space agency officials have been trying to figure out how to relaunch manned missions from U.S. soil. NASA since 2011 has relied on the Russian space program to send American astronauts to the International Space Station — at the pricey cost of $70 million per seat.
NASA in 2010 created the Commercial Crew Program, which relies on the private industry to build spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station. To date, the organization invested nearly $7 billion into both Boeing and SpaceX capsule programs.
Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin spent the last seven years designing and building NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle in Cape Canaveral, which is tasked with flying astronauts to Mars by 2033. Already, the Orion completed an unmanned test flight in 2014, when it orbited Earth and landed safely back in the Pacific Ocean.
The activity by NASA and commercial space firms isn’t just attracting national attention — it’s creating more high-wage jobs in Central Florida. Boeing has more than 1,000 people working on the Starliner, and Lockheed Martin plans to add to its existing Orion team of more than 4,000 workers as its manned launch date approaches.
“When the European service module comes over in July, we’ll have additional workers joining us from Europe to help with the integration and testing,†NASA spokeswoman Brittney Thorpe told Orlando Business Journal. “These employees are excited about coming to Florida.â€
In this special report, we offer a closer look at each capsule’s design, specifications and features, as well a behind-the-scenes look at Orion’s production. Read on for more.
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