SPACE COAST — Blue Origin plans to bring its new space manufacturing apprenticeship program to Florida’s Space Coast as the company works to grow the skilled workforce needed to build rockets and other spacecraft.
The Advanced Training & Learning Academy for Space, or ATLAS, launched this month in Alabama with 10 machinist apprentices. Blue Origin describes it as its first registered apprenticeship program specifically designed for space manufacturing.
Florida is expected to be the next location for the program. Apprentices on the Space Coast would receive a mix of classroom instruction and hands-on training, including opportunities to work on flight hardware for New Glenn rockets and lunar landers.
The program is designed as an alternative route into the aerospace industry for people without four-year college degrees. Blue Origin says apprentices earn full-time pay and benefits while training and can ultimately earn nationally recognized journeyworker certifications.
The company plans to expand the program across multiple manufacturing sites, with a goal of producing more than 200 journey-level technicians annually by 2030.
The push comes as Blue Origin significantly expands its Space Coast operations. Earlier this year, the company announced a $600 million expansion of its Rocket Park campus expected to add 500 aerospace jobs.
Applications for the Florida apprenticeship program are expected to open after the first of the year through Blue Origin’s careers website.
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