Blue Origin, a secretive rocket company started by Jeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, made a splashy public announcement on Tuesday, saying it will build rockets and send them into orbit from Florida.

Blue Origin has leased Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the historic site of 145 launches, including those of Pioneer 10 from NASA, the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter, and Surveyor 1, the first craft to make a soft landing on the moon.

But Launch Complex 36 has sat idle for a decade. “Too long,” Mr. Bezos said at the ceremony. “We can’t wait to fix that.”

Blue Origin will also open a factory to assemble rockets nearby. “We’re not just launching from here,” Mr. Bezos said. “We’re building here.”