![]() ![]() Image: In September 1983, technicians in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 inspect Spacelab-1 in the payload bay of shuttle Columbia. Columbia then was towed into an OPF for processing for STS-1, NASA's first shuttle fight. Image: Shuttle Columbia arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility via the shuttle carrier aircraft in March 1979 after completing its ferry flight from Dryden Flight Research Center in California. "We try to keep the platforms within a maximum distance of 6 to 8 inches, but a minimum of 4 inches." "Each high bay has a footprint of the orbiter, and when it rolls in, it has to fit to that footprint," said Wayne Bingham, a United Space Alliance, or USA, flow manager. Once inside, technicians jack-and-level the shuttle to maintenance height where platforms and a main access bridge surround the spacecraft like a glove. Across the street is OPF-3, the home base of Discovery. In recent years, OPF-1 and OPF-2, which are connected by a 233-foot-long low bay, have been the residence of Atlantis and Endeavour, respectively. But it's also a place where staples are prohibited from the paperwork technicians work off of so the little pieces of metal don't accidentally become embedded in the shuttle's critical systems.įresh off Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility and back from a mission, shuttles are towed to their individual processing bays. The bays may be the highest-tech garages on the planet, where workers ready a spaceship for flight without scuffing it and huge cranes move tons of cargo into place. ![]() They're formally called orbiter processing facilities, but routinely go by the names OPFs, bays, or hangars, and inside highly experienced technicians perform two-thirds of the work to prepare a shuttle for space. FTC (Federal Communications Commission) first gave Amazon approval for its satellite constellation in July 2020.If home is where the heart is, then the heart and soul of NASA's space shuttle fleet reside in three custom-built, 29,000-square-foot buildings at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Nuñez, Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello. Pictured, top, are Project Kuiper and Amazon executives, along with Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette M. Customer access to the service will begin later in the year.Īmazon recently announced the design, size, and performance details of our three customer terminals-the antennas Project Kuiper customers will use to receive the service (pictured below). The company expects to begin mass-producing satellites by the end of 2023, with Project Kuiper launching the first production satellites in the first half of 2024. ![]() ![]() “Adding Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite payload processing facility to the region’s growing industrial capability in commercial space is a testament to the power of building a statewide ecosystem that supports companies across the entire aerospace supply chain,” added Brian Huseman, vp of public policy and community engagement at Amazon. “We have an ambitious plan to begin Project Kuiper’s full-scale production launches and early customer pilots next year, and this new facility will play a critical role in helping us deliver on that timeline,” said Steve Metayer, vp of Kuiper Production Operations. launch providers Blue Origin and ULA, with launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It’s one of several Amazon investments Florida, it says.Īmazon said it is investing $120 million in construction and equipment, creating up to 50 new jobs on the Space Coast.Īmazon has secured 77 heavy-lift launch vehicles to deploy its satellite constellation, most of which will be provided by U.S. The company highlights the facility stems from an expected partnership with Space Florida’s Spaceport Improvement Program, an investment matching initiative that aims to boost critical spaceport infrastructure in the state. The 100,000-square-foot centre features a 100-foot tall high bay clean room for the payload fairing of new heavy-lift rockets like Blue Origin’s New Glenn and ULA’s Vulcan Centaur. ![]()
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