The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has awarded Gator Dredging a contract worth about $7.9 million to dredge the Banana River near Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Jacksonville District announced the award on September 29. The contractor is Waterfront Property Services doing business as Gator Dredging, and the work also covers adjacent waterways serving Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Under the operations and maintenance contract, Gator Dredging will remove approximately 524,000 cubic yards (401,000 cubic metres) of shoaling. USACE expects dredging to begin in December 2026 and conclude by June 2027.
According to the district, government and commercial spaceflight operations rely on the waterways to move rockets and essential components. The Banana River carries NASA’s Pegasus barge, which delivers Artemis rocket elements to Kennedy Space Center.
In April, Pegasus delivered an Artemis III space launch system core-stage section to Kennedy after a 900-mile (1,450-kilometre) voyage from the agency’s Michoud assembly facility in New Orleans.
