Space Firm Brings 100 Jobs to Melbourne Facility
CesiumAstro's $25 million Melbourne build-out supports its satellite communications hardware plans as it adds staff.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Space
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CesiumAstro, a space-to-ground communications company headquartered in Austin, Texas, has invested $25 million in an engineering and manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Florida. The expansion is announced, and the site is already operating with about 45 people.
Why it matters
The move puts a space communications company's engineering and manufacturing work in Melbourne, near Melbourne Orlando International Airport, as the company builds out a satellite constellation. CesiumAstro chose the city for its engineering and manufacturing workforce talent, a sign that Melbourne's talent pool is competing with hubs such as Denver.
The facility's work centers on a ground station and a space-based radio communications system that operate over a specific frequency channel. The available figures are the $25 million investment, the 30,000 square feet leased, and the 45 current staff, with no performance benchmarks for the radio system disclosed in the source.
The players
CesiumAstro
A space-to-ground communications company headquartered in Austin, Texas, with more than 850 employees, operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, and a first satellite, Element-1, launched in October.
L3Harris Technologies
A defense and aerospace technology company that sold the 39-acre Wickham Road office complex in Melbourne in November 2025.
Hughco Holdings Inc.
The buyer of the 39-acre Wickham Road office complex from L3Harris Technologies for $13.75 million.
SpaceX
A launch provider whose Falcon 9 rocket carried CesiumAstro's Element-1 satellite into low-Earth orbit on the Transporter-18 mission.
The details
CesiumAstro builds communications hardware that links satellites in orbit to ground equipment, and its Melbourne team will lead work on a ground station and a space-based radio system that communicate over a specific frequency channel. The company's first satellite, Element-1, reached low-Earth orbit on October 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launching on the Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Melbourne site will include laboratory space within the leased 30,000 square feet.
Timeline
November 2025: L3Harris Technologies sold the Wickham Road office complex to Hughco Holdings Inc. for $13.75 million.
August: CesiumAstro acquired Jariet Technologies.
October 1: Element-1 launched into low-Earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
Over the next 12 months: The Melbourne expansion is projected to create 100 new jobs.
The Tech Race
Element-1 reached orbit on the Transporter-18 rideshare, the same class of low-cost smallsat launch that has made satellite communications hardware more accessible to commercial firms. CesiumAstro's Melbourne build-out places it in a race to supply ground and space communications equipment for constellations, a segment where it competes for engineering talent with companies in Denver and other aerospace hubs.
Melbourne residents seeking engineering and manufacturing work can expect new openings as CesiumAstro hires toward a projected 100 positions over the next 12 months. The source gives no timeline for when satellite services built on this hardware will reach end users.
The takeaway
Watch for the first hiring figures and any launch dates for CesiumAstro's next satellites, which the company says will follow over the next few years. Those milestones will show whether the Melbourne facility is scaling toward its projected 100 jobs in the stated 12-month window.
What happens next
CesiumAstro plans to launch more satellites over the next few years to build a constellation, and it will continue hiring in Melbourne over the next 12 months as the projected 100 jobs are filled.
Further reading
For broader context on the commercial launch and satellite hardware market, explore Space coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Florida Today.
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