Project Beep, a confidential airspace firm, to lease land for $247M Merritt Island facility
Little information has been publicly released about this confidential company.
"It captures the increasing pace of activity around the world's busiest spaceport," Space Florida President and CEO Rob Long said during the authority's May 28 board of directors meeting.
"Obviously, we welcome this growth and are excited about the bright future for the space industry here in Florida."
By unanimous vote, Space Florida authorized completion of negotiations for a 30-year Project Beep lease for the last two remaining parcels of the opening phase of Exploration Park, which is managed in partnership with NASA.
"Project Beep intends to set up manufacturing, research and development, laboratory, warehousing and office facilities to support aerospace operation at Cape Canaveral Spaceport," said Howard Haug, Space Florida executive vice president, treasurer and chief investment officer.
"The project estimates total investment of $247 million and expects creating approximately 1,000 jobs at industry-average wages."
During a post-meeting press conference, Long said Project Beep officials are still looking at building structural designs, and Space Florida will work with the mystery company on that topic during the next several months.
Statewide, Space Florida reported it is pursuing 204 business opportunities. The Space Coast leads the way with 51 potential deals, followed by Central Florida with 28 opportunities and the western Panhandle with 24.
The Space Florida meeting kicked off 3½ hours after SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center into low-Earth orbit on another Starlink mission. The liftoff marked the 45th orbital rocket launch thus far this year from Florida's Space Coast.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Florida to lease land for Project Beep aerospace firm, 1,000 jobs
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Here's How to Spot Bright Fireballs During the Dazzling Perseids Meteor Shower
Skygazers rejoice, the summer isn't finished with delivering dazzling meteor showers. The last week of July saw dueling meteor showers taking over the sky, but the most popular meteor shower of the year won't hit its peak until next week. The Perseids meteor shower is about to give you a real light show, provided you're far enough away from light pollution to see it. Perseids are known for their bright fireballs and plentiful meteors. The show started on July 17, and will run through Aug. 23. The reason the Perseids meteor shower is so popular is twofold. First, it takes place in the summer, so going outside and watching it is less uncomfortable than other large meteor showers like Quadrantids, which takes place in wintery January. The other reason is that it's one of the most active meteor showers of the year. During its peak, the meteor shower is known to rain down as many as 100 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society. These not only include your typical shooting stars, but also a higher chance for fireballs, which are meteors that explode as they enter orbit. Per NASA, fireballs tend to last longer than standard shooting stars and can come in a variety of different colors. Perseids come to Earth courtesy of the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. Earth's orbit around the sun brings it through Swift-Tuttle's tail every year. The comet itself takes 133 years to orbit the sun. Its last perihelion -- the point at which it's the closest to the sun -- was in 1992. It won't be back until the year 2125. Until then, it leaves behind an excellent tail of dust and debris to feed us yearly meteor showers. How to catch the Perseids meteor shower The best time to view the Perseids is during its peak, which occurs on the evenings of Aug. 12 and 13. During this time, the shower will produce anywhere from 25 to 100 meteors per hour on average. However, since the shower officially lasts for over a month, you have a chance to see a shooting star on any given evening, provided that you're far enough away from light pollution. Thus, if you're planning on watching this year's Perseids during their peak, you'll want to get out of the city and suburbs as far as possible. According to Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office, folks in the city might see one or two meteors from the meteor shower per hour, which is pocket change compared to what those outside city limits might see. Regardless, once you've arrived at wherever you want to watch the meteors, you'll want to direct your attention to the radiant, or the point at which the meteors will appear to originate. Like all meteors, Perseids are named after the constellation from which they appear. In this case, it's Perseus. Per Stellarium's free sky map, Perseus will rise from the northeastern horizon across the continental US on the evenings of Aug. 12 and 13. It'll then rise into the eastern sky, where it'll remain until after sunrise. So, in short, point yourself due east and you should be OK. Binoculars may help, but we recommend against telescopes since they'll restrict your view of the sky to a very small portion, which may hinder your meteor-sighting efforts. The American Meteor Society also notes that the moon may give viewers some difficulty. Perseids' peak occurs just three days after August's full moon, so the moon will still be mostly full. Thus, it is highly probable that light pollution from the moon may reduce the number of visible meteors by a hefty margin, depending on how things go.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Perseid meteor shower 2025 peaks tonight: Where and what time to watch the year's brightest shower
The Perseid shower is considered the best, most visible meteor display of the year, according to NASA. The Perseid meteor shower will peak Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with up to 100 streaks visible every hour. The Perseid shower, which has been active since July 17, is 'considered the best meteor shower of the year,' according to NASA. Experts note that the moon may impact some visibility, but viewers will still be able to watch the shower if they're in a dark area away from city lights and their phones. Here's what to know to prepare for the year's biggest meteor shower. What is a meteor shower? Meteoroids are falling pieces of debris from comets and asteroids that, as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, turn into meteors, according to NASA. As meteors vaporize, their trails are visible from Earth, which is what we call 'shooting stars' or 'falling stars.' A meteor shower is what happens when there's a higher-than-usual number of meteors falling across the sky in a short period of time. Meteor showers happen at certain times throughout the year because comets also orbit the sun, so when a comet and the Earth cross paths, the Earth encounters a lot of the comet's debris, or meteoroids. What to know about the Perseid meteor shower Perseid meteors leave particularly long, bright trails as they fall through Earth's atmosphere, with about 50 to 100 streaks expected to be visible every hour at its peak. The Perseid shower comes from comet 109/Swift-Tuttle, a comet that takes 133 years to orbit the sun and crosses the Earth's orbit once a year. The shower's name comes from the constellation Perseus, NASA explains, which is the point in the sky from which the Perseid meteors are visibly falling. Fireballs are also anticipated to appear throughout Tuesday night into Wednesday. 'Fireballs' is an astronomical term used by NASA to describe meteoroids that burst into bright colors while in the Earth's atmosphere, becoming more visible than average meteors. How to watch the Perseid meteor shower Northern Hemisphere residents will have the best Perseid views, NASA reports. But this year's shower does coincide with the rise of a waning gibbous moon, the phase between a full moon and a half moon, which could impact visibility, warned. To find the best time to see the Perseid shower where you are, check the Global Meteor Network's meteor-tracking meter. Solve the daily Crossword
Atlantic
2 hours ago
- Atlantic
The Colors of the World, Seen From the International Space Station
Recent photographs from crew members aboard the ISS show some spectacular views of auroras, moonsets, the Milky Way, and more, seen from from their vantage point in orbit. August 12, 2025, 1:29 PM ET Green and red displays from the southern lights (aurora australis) appear above the Earth, seen from the orbiting International Space Station, south of Australia, on April 21, 2025. Lightning flashes among cloud formations above Indonesia, seen on June 22, 2025. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears among a starry backdrop above Earth's atmospheric glow in this long-duration photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on November 26, 2024. Swirling formations in the shallow sea floor, seen in the Bahamas on October 20, 2024 Thrusters fire while red and green navigation lights shine from the Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft as it approaches the ISS on September 29, 2024, carrying four new crew members. The differing colors of Utah's Great Salt Lake, seen on August 3, 2025. Variations in the salinity of the lake water, which is separated roughly in half by a causeway, account for the differences in color. Moonrise over the Mediterranean, seen on May 17, 2025 The Milky Way appears beyond Earth's horizon in this photograph captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit using a camera with low light and long duration settings, pointed out a window on the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft on January 29, 2025. The International Space Station was orbiting 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile just before sunrise. Massive wildfires in central Australia, seen through smoke and haze at night, on May 25, 2025 A ribbon-like aurora lights up the sky on April 20, 2025, south of Australia. Sparse clouds pass above sand dunes in the United Arab Emirates, seen on June 10, 2025. The Milky Way appears in the vastness of space behind the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port on the International Space Station on June 30, 2024. This long-duration photograph taken from the ISS as it orbited 259 miles above the Andaman Sea reveals the city lights of Southeast Asia and the typical green lights of the fishing boats underneath Earth's atmospheric glow on March 26, 2025. A powerful bolt of lightning casts shadows and illuminates storm clouds from within, over China, seen on July 3, 2025. The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, carrying more than 6,000 pounds of science, supplies, and hardware, approaches the ISS above the Atlantic Ocean on November 5, 2024. Peering through the window of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, the NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this image of the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft as the lights of a vivid green and pink aurora swirled through Earth's atmosphere above the Indian Ocean on October 7, 2024. On July 3, 2025, the NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured this amazing image of a sprite, a rarely photographed weather phenomenon, as the ISS passed above a storm over Mexico. Ayers wrote: 'Sprites are TLEs, or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below.' The sun appears along Earth's horizon, seen above the southern Pacific Ocean on October 7, 2024. Lightning illuminates a storm cloud over Hong Kong, seen at night on May 3, 2025. Low sunlight is seen across dunes in the Sahara Desert on December 7, 2024. A green and pink aurora, seen south of Australia on October 7, 2024 The new moon sets behind Earth's colorful but dimming atmosphere in this long-duration photograph taken by the NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick with a camera programmed for high sensitivity on September 4, 2024. A long-exposure view of the lights of Earth and the stars above, seen on September 29, 2024 Lightning strikes in a small storm cloud above Thailand, seen on October 27, 2024. Lights streak past, seen in a long-exposure image as the ISS passes over the American Midwest on October 26, 2024. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), roughly 44 million miles away from Earth in this photo, is viewed from the ISS on September 28, 2024. An aurora glows beyond docked spacecraft and components of the International Space Station on October 10, 2024. Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
