A Department of Defense project to upgrade two 1950s-era weapon launch complexes at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to modern standard will create 100 new jobs and could secure a further 900 for decades to come.

The programme already employs 900 people in Brevard County, which could be maintained for up to 80 years as a result of the new investment.

The paper also says that the new jobs will average a salary of $90k (£58k) and around 85% will be for civilian contractors, including former space shuttle workers.

Construction should be complete in 2015, with operations beginning in 2017.

Newspaper Florida Today reports that Brevard received over $2bn of Department of Defense spending in the fiscal year 2009. This is 15.5% of all budget and second only to Orange County, which received $4.38bn.