Boeing to build spacecraft at shuttle hangar

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Boeing is taking over a space shuttle hangar in Florida to work on its own space capsule.

The agreement was announced Monday at Kennedy Space Center. The move is expected to create 550 jobs over the next four years.

Since 2009, more than 4,000 space jobs have been lost in the Cape Canaveral area as NASA closed out the space shuttle program.

Boeing is one of several companies developing space taxis and cargo ships to carry astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. Boeing is working on a capsule that could transport seven people into space.

The company will move into one of the three hangars that were used to prepare shuttles for flight.