Florida
Amazon to build $120 million facility in Florida to prep Kuiper internet satellites for launch

An artist’s rendering of the Project Kuiper satellite processing facility in Florida.
Amazon
Amazon will invest $120 million to build a satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the company prepares to launch the first satellites for its Project Kuiper internet network, the tech giant announced Friday.
The facility will be built at the Launch and Landing Facility that was once where NASA landed Space Shuttle missions. The LLF is now leased and operated by Space Florida, which serves as the state’s space economy development arm.
“I am thrilled that Amazon is the first major tenant to locate [at the LLF],” Frank DiBello, CEO of Space Florida, told CNBC. “It’s a testament to the fact, though, that we view the whole state as an ecosystem supporting space.”
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s plan to build a network of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit, to provide high-speed internet access anywhere in the world. The 100,000-square-foot processing facility will serve as one of the final steps before the satellites reach orbit, preparing them for launches on the rockets of the United Launch Alliance and Jeff Bezos’ separately owned Blue Origin.
“We’re going to finish construction at the end of 2024. We’ll be processing our first production satellites through this facility in early 2025,” Steve Metayer, Amazon’s vice president of Kuiper production operations, told CNBC.
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Last year, Amazon announced the biggest corporate rocket deal in the industry’s history to launch its satellites. It has booked 77 launches – deals that included options for more when needed – from a variety of companies to deploy the satellites fast enough to meet regulatory requirements.
The “ultra-compact” version of the Project Kuiper
Amazon
Amazon hopes to launch its first two Kuiper prototype satellites “in the coming months,” the company said – but that depends on when the rocket that the spacecraft would ride on becomes ready.
According to Metayer, Amazon still plans to fly the prototypes on the inaugural launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket, which was recently delayed to the fourth quarter. Although Amazon “can work with” the new Vulcan timeline, Metayer said the company is “looking at all options available to us to get the prototypes up in a timely manner.”
The Kuiper prototypes have already moved rides once before, shifting from ABL’s RS1 rocket over to Vulcan.
Project Kuiper currently employs more than 1,400 people, Amazon said. The company’s main Kuiper facilities are near Seattle – in the cities of Redmond and Kirkland. Amazon has other locations in San Diego, Austin, Texas, New York City and Washington, D.C.
“We go where the talent is,” Metayer said.

Florida
Florida mom sparks fierce debate after allowing her kids to skip final week of school: ‘I don’t see the point’

School’s out for summer a little early.
Patricia Horton, a mother of two in Florida, unapologetically pulled her kids out of the “last couple days” of school because she insisted there was no reason for them to go.
“I don’t see the point,” Horton shared in a viral TikTok video posted on May 22. “Most of the teachers would rather you keep your kids home anyway.”
Horton, whose children are 7 and 12, admitted her parenting style is very different from how she was raised.
“My parents, they made me go to school every single day,” Horton added. “Every single day, all the way to the very last day of school every year.”
Horton revealed that her parents would only let her miss class due to a doctor’s appointment or if she was extremely sick.
The mom argued that kids aren’t learning during the final days of class and implied that they were being put to work cleaning the school.
“I have cleaned a lot of desks,” Horton revealed while talking about her childhood experience during the final days of school. “That is what we did the last week of school when I was a kid. We cleaned desks, and we cleaned classrooms, and I was a professional at cleaning desks.”
“I’m not doing that with my kids,” Horton added. “Stay home, baby, it’s summertime. Time to go.”
Horton claimed the teachers have no problem with her decision.
“They always say, ‘It’s been great teaching your kid, and I hope you have a great summer,’” Horton told TODAY. “It’s never, ‘Oh no, you’re not going to come?’ They totally understand.”
But Horton said she doesn’t force her kids to stay home and allows the duo the opportunity to attend classes.
“If my kids want to go to school, they are absolutely welcome to go,” Horton added. “If they want to stay home, I’m not going to make them go to school to sit there and maybe watch a movie.”
Horton received mixed reactions when she posed the question to her followers on how they handle the last week of school.
“I’m a teacher, and I hate when kids miss the last few days of school,” one TikTok user wrote. “We as a class have been a family for several months. Kids and teachers would like to say goodbye.”
“My kids would be SO disappointed if they missed the last few days,” another mom commented. “Splash pad, movies, field day, auctions… all on the last days. That’s the fun stuff they’ve waited all year for.”
One mom even joked that she made her kids go because “that’s the last little bit of my break.”
Others agreed that there was no reason to require kids to attend class.
“As a teacher, we aren’t doing anything fun,” a user confessed. “Sorry, we have checklists we have to get done, such as cleaning, seeing what things need repairs, etc. We don’t have parties or anything like that. It’s just babysitting at that point.”
“I did when they were in elementary,” another mom commented. “Middle School and High School don’t even take roll the last week. So they do not go.”
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