BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - SpaceX is taking Starship to new heights! The company announced plans on Monday to expand Starship production and launch operations to Florida, a major step toward ramping up its ambitious flight program. With this expansion, SpaceX aims to boost both build and flight rates for Starship.

What we know:

SpaceX plans to build new launch and landing sites for Starship at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to support these missions, pending environmental approval.

The company also anticipates creating a new integration facility called Gigabay, which will have plenty of space (40 million cubic feet) for vehicle processing space.

The project is a big SpaceX capital investment -- $1.8 billion -- and is expected to bring 600 new full-time jobs to Florida's Space Coast by 2030.

What they're saying:

"Florida is the present and future of the space industry with leading space companies -- like SpaceX -- investing in the Free State of Florida," Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement. "We welcome SpaceX's Starship to our state."

"SpaceX was founded with the ultimate mission of making humanity multiplanetary, and Starship is the vehicle that will enable us to become a spacefaring civilization," Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's Vice President of Launch said in a statement. "Through this significant expansion of Starship production and launch capabilities in Florida, we're taking a big step toward achieving this goal, and we are grateful to our partners across the State for their ongoing support."

Starship is SpaceX's fully reusable spacecraft and rocket system designed for missions to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

It is "the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable," according to SpaceX's website.

Starship is currently headquartered in Starbase, Texas.