James Dean

FLORIDA TODAY

A maker of propellant for small solid rocket motors could bring 80 jobs with wages averaging $83,000 to Titusville, according to Space Florida.

At a Sept. 28 board meeting in Orlando, Space Florida plans to discuss the company referred to only by the code name “Project Swanson” in meeting materials posted online.

The company is “seeking to establish a manufacturing site in the United States,” according to the documents, and could invest up to $4 million in new facilities and equipment at “the Titusville-Cocoa Airport (TICO).”

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TICO is a name commonly used for Space Coast Regional Airport, located across the Indian River Lagoon from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Space Florida will seek its board’s approval to negotiate lease terms and to secure financing to fund facility construction and equipment purchases, but would not be responsible for the debt.

"It’s what we wanted and what we're focused on now, which is filling in the supply chain for a number of the big projects that we've landed over the last couple of years," said Dale Ketcham, chief of strategic alliances for Space Florida. "The more we beef up the industrial capability here in Florida, the more attractive the state becomes for us to recruit the next big project."

Big projects landed over the past year include deals with Blue Origin and OneWeb Satellites to establish large manufacturing facilities in Exploration Park at the south end of KSC, together expected to bring more than 500 jobs in the coming years.

Next week's board meeting agenda includes more agreements to help Blue Origin build out its launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complexes 36 and 11, where the company hopes to launch New Glenn orbital rockets by the end of the decade.

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Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency and spaceport authority, will tap nearly $27 million this year and next year in state Department of Transportation funds for spaceport infrastructure, money that Blue Origin will match.

Blue Origin in total is expected to invest more than $200 million in the launch site and a large factory where it will build the rockets.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.