From rocket testing to passports

Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss., is best known for testing rocket engines that launch astronauts into space but it's also home to one of only two U.S. Government Publishing Office(s) that produce 500,000 passports used by Americans traveling the world.

For the past 15 years, the Mississippi-based GPO has been turning out millions of blank passport books for the U.S. Department of State, which then personalizes each passport for individual travelers. 

GPO has been producing U.S. passports for the state department since 1926.

Until the Stennis Secure Production Facility opened in 2008, the GPO office in Washington, D.C., was the only operation that produced U.S. passports. (Special to the Clarion Ledger 08/28/23) Mississippi office produces half of the nation’s passports (clarionledger.com)