New York (CNN Business) Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, is taking over a historic NASA facility — and it's only the latest example of a private "new space" company slapping its logo on former space agency territory.

NASA said in a press release Wednesday that it signed an agreement for Blue Origin to use its rocket engine test site in Huntsville, Alabama. The deal "signals rocketing growth of commercial space," NASA said in a statement.

The Huntsville site once hosted tests of the massive engines that powered the Saturn V rocket, which landed astronauts on the moon a half-century ago. It was later used to test engines for NASA's space shuttle program. The facility has been dormant since 1998.

"Through this agreement, we'll provide for the refurbishment, restoration and modernization of this piece of American history — and bring the sounds of rocket engines firing back to Huntsville," Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said in a statement.

Under its new agreement with NASA, Blue Origin will pay to refurbish the Huntsville engine-testing facility. The company will use the site to test-fire two rocket engine models that promise to be game-changers for the commercial rocket industry , and will be built nearby.

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