{"id":2667,"date":"2026-06-03T19:06:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T19:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2667"},"modified":"2026-06-03T19:06:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T19:06:51","slug":"space-florida-to-fund-ocean-based-space-launch-company-other-secretive-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2667","title":{"rendered":"Space Florida to fund ocean-based space launch company, other secretive projects"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Space Florida continues to hold things close to the vest with several ongoing projects as it tries to attract aerospace business to the state \u2014 but did reveal the company behind what they had dubbed \u201cProject Manta\u201d to be Seagate Space, for which the state agency will help fund an offshore launch platform.<\/p>\n

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The state\u2019s aerospace finance and development authority held a Board of Directors meeting Tuesday giving the approval to move forward on a variety of space and airline deals in the works with names like Project Jaguar, Project Forge and Project Henry.<\/p>\n

Project Manta called for Space Florida to negotiate and enter into an equipment purchase and leaseback agreement up to $270,000 for advance infrastructure system hardware to be developed and demonstrated in the state. After the board approved the funding, the agency announced it was for Seagate, a St. Petersburg-based company that\u2019s been lining up small-rocket customers for its proposed offshore launch vessel.<\/p>\n

Two of those customers have been Cocoa-based Vaya Space with its Dauntless rocket and Firefly Aerospace with its Alpha rocket. The company\u2019s goal is to provide a mobile launch site based in the ocean that could serve the needs for smaller companies that may have a harder time breaking into the busy pads on the Space Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ecstatic to receive meaningful support from Space Florida that accelerates the next stage of our development,\u201d said Michael Anderson, co-founder and CEO of Seagate Space. \u201cThe opportunity to supplement early-stage private investment with public capital shows our state\u2019s commitment to fostering homegrown innovation. As we grow, we see a bright future in Florida with the people, capital, and partners that startups need across phases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson in January took part in the Global Spaceport Alliance\u2019s annual summit at the Orange County Convention Center, highlighting his company\u2019s momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re kind of looking at opportunities in the Gulf, right across the state, as well as in the Atlantic, which could open up other launch corridors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Space Florida\u2019s investment can help that come to fruition, while also opening up more potential business as the lineup at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station gets more crowded. Already the pads at those sites host NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance rockets. Relativity Space, Stoke Space and Astra Space all have plans to continue launching from there as well.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are having and will continue to work with all of these companies in various forms,\u201d said Space Florida CEO Rob Long. \u201cI think there\u2019s plenty of opportunities across here, Cape Canaveral, and across the state at large for any aerospace company, really, that wants to take advantage of the tools and the model that we have at our disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seagate Space\u2019s vessel was still in research and development mode in January, but the company was looking to begin construction this summer and potentially serve customers by late 2027 or into 2028, he said. Construction of the prototype vessel will take place at the Port of Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur partnership with Seagate Space is a great example of how Florida is cultivating an innovation ecosystem that leverages everything the state has to offer, while empowering companies to stay and build here,\u201d Long said. \u201cSpace Florida\u2019s role is to be a force multiplier, and our engagement consistently helps unlock bigger outcomes, more capital, and stronger companies choosing Florida time and time again. Seagate Space represents the future we\u2019re investing in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other project action Tuesday, the agency approved next steps for Project Jaguar, first announced late last year. The deal could be the first in the nation to take advantage of new tax-free bonds for spaceport infrastructure that were first allowed by law after Congress passed Trump\u2019s \u201cOne Big, Beautiful Bill\u201d last year.<\/p>\n

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The project looks to bring facilities such as \u201cfinal assembly, integration, and test, logistics and inventory storage, payload processing, flight crew launch readiness, training, and recovery, science center, and payload support on spaceport territory in Florida for the development of destination hardware,\u201d according to Space Florida\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The agency would enter into an agreement with the anonymous company to seek funding in the capital market for facilities and equipment to the tune of $235 million. Tuesday\u2019s actions was to approve reimbursement of some costs already associated with the pursuit of financing.<\/p>\n

A similar approval was given to Project Forge, although whichever company was behind that is not as close to fruition as Project Jaguar.<\/p>\n

Other actions Tuesday include allowing Space Florida to negotiate with an international aircraft manufacturer, associated with Project Henry, to expand its Florida presence with a two-phase project that would amount to $200 million in capital investment between facilities and equipment, and add 350 jobs to the state.<\/p>\n

The state recently announced the company behind another effort from Space Florida that had been dubbed Project Horizon. That turned out to be Blue Origin, for an expansion of its New Glenn rocket manufacturing in Merritt Island that expects to bring an additional 500 jobs to the Space Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you consider the overall project pipeline that we have, it\u2019s on the order of $5-6 billion of potential capital investment across the state,\u201d Long said after the meeting. \u201cSo when today was a very narrow snapshot of a specific projects based on the where they\u2019re at and their overall readiness to move to the next step. But when you take that step back overall, I think we\u2019re over 160,000 aerospace jobs across the state right now, and I think we\u2019re going to continue to see that increase over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Space Florida continues to hold things close to the vest with several ongoing projects as it tries to attract aerospace business to the state \u2014 but did reveal the company behind what they had dubbed “Project Manta” to be Seagate Space, for which the state agency will help fund an offshore launch platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-science"],"yoast_head":"\nSpace Florida to fund ocean-based space launch company, other secretive projects - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2667\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Space Florida to fund ocean-based space launch company, other secretive projects - 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