KIRKLAND, Wash. — Amazon gave U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and other VIPs a sneak peek at the company’s Project Kuiper satellite factory, where thousands of spacecraft are to be manufactured for a global broadband network.
Today’s event included remarks by local officials as well as a ribbon-cutting ceremony — but access to sensitive areas of the 172,000-square-foot facility was limited due to concerns about confidentiality and export control requirements.
The factory, which quietly began operations in April, serves as the manufacturing hub for Amazon’s satellite project. Work is also being done at Project Kuiper’s 219,000-square-foot headquarters in nearby Redmond.
Last year, Amazon successfully tested two Redmond-built prototype satellites in orbit. Now full-scale manufacturing is ramping up in Kirkland, with the first completed production satellites due to be shipped to Florida this summer.
Cantwell noted that the state’s aerospace sector is a $70 billion industry that supports 250,000 jobs, and said that the Project Kuiper factory will add to Washington’s technological prowess.
“We like to say we’re the Silicon Valley of space here in Puget Sound,” she said. “And Kirkland now is joining the fight, helping us deliver not just better service, but a skilled workforce and great attention to how the United States is going to be very competitive in space communication.”
