Launch Pad

Our Next Giant Leap
https://spacecoastedc.org/

A giant leap is happening. A leap forged by a
unique mix of game-changing pioneers and
legacy powerhouses is reinventing the one-of-a kind Florida’s Space Coast – a giant leap that is
just beginning. This new chapter, cultivated from
decades of community collaboration and strategic
economic development is setting up Florida’s Space
Coast for its next giant leap in making history and the
region’s new great era. A look at Fiscal Year 2020/2021
illustrates the success of the EDC’s continued mission
to secure Brevard’s economic future, and how the
organization is forging this stage of history.

In June, the EDC announced Dark Storm Industries
LLC will relocate to Titusville, FL and expand its
advanced manufacturing facility, which is expected
to create 50 new jobs with an average annual salary
of $50,000 and a capital investment of approximately
$3.2 million. In July, Lockheed Martin opened its
STAR Center which will expand manufacturing,
assembly and testing capacity for NASA’s Orion
spacecraft program and ultimately, future space
exploration. The opening of this ‘factory of the future’
is just an example of the long-game of economic
development, and the direct result of a successful
EDC strategic capture plan for the Crew Exploration
Vehicle. Then, 2021 started with the news that
Brevard County launched to the second strongest
economy in the nation in the Milken Institute’s
Best Performing Cities index, rocketing up 47 spots
on this prestigious list in just three years.

To end the year strong, the EDC joined Governor Ron
DeSantis to announce Terran Orbital’s decision
to choose Merritt Island for construction of its
Commercial Spacecraft and Constellation Facility.
This will be the largest satellite manufacturing facility
in the world and is expected to create approximately
2,100 new jobs with an estimated annual average
wage of $84,000 by late 2025.

With all this exciting news we also watched as more
American astronauts returned to space from American
soil – a return we waited over a decade for. Plus, we
see the benefits of economic development with new
developments from one end of the county to another,
from new hotels and thriving downtowns.

Fiscal Year 2020/2021 was the beginning of something
we can all see and feel; Our Next Giant Leap, one
prepared by history and poised for the future.

The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) landed #2 in the Milken
Institute’s Best Performing Cities 2021: Where
America’s Jobs are Created and Sustained report.