ORLANDO, Fla. — Boeing will announce an agreement with Space Florida today to lease the hangar that housed the space shuttles to build similar craft that will bring people and cargo to space.

The deal with the state’s space agency will create 140 jobs in the next 18 months and 550 jobs by 2015 in an area that’s lost jobs as the space shuttle program was retired earlier this year, according to Gov. Rick Scott’s office and President Barack Obama’s administration.

“Florida has five decades of leadership in the space industry, which makes our state the logical place for the next phase of space travel and exploration,” Scott said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “Boeing’s choice of Florida for its Commercial Crew program headquarters is evidence Florida has the world-class facilities and workforce expertise needed for aerospace companies to succeed.”

Likewise, the Obama administration praised the agreement between the Chicago-based Boeing and Space Florida.

“The next era of space exploration won’t wait, and so we can’t wait for Congress to do its job and give our space program the funding it needs,” Obama said in prepared remarks.