A New Age for the Space Coast - Where and when to watch a rocket launch?

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This year we commemorate the 50th anniversary of humans landing on the moon. In 1969, Apollo 11 mission was successfully accomplished by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The crew launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, walked the moon, gathered samples of lunar-surface materials, and returned to Earth. It was epic!

The eyes of entire world were on NASA. People would gather on the beaches to watch rocket launches almost every three or four days. This golden period for Florida’s East coast marked more than just the space industry. Even schools were named “Apollo Elementary” and "Astronaut High”. And if that wasn´t enough… the area code “321” was set to simulate a launch countdown.

Unfortunately, the Space era decayed and Brevard County, where the Space Coast is mostly based, started facing the consequences of the recession and tourism declined. However, it seems that nowadays a new space age has come with NASA’s Artemis program that aims to get the first woman on the surface of the moon in 2024 and the opening of the space industry to commercial and marketing activities. .

Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, founded by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos respectively, are already working on the space economy. The video shows Falcon 9 Heavy rocket lifting off last April, putting a Tesla Roadster and its passenger, Starman, into orbit around the sun, and then landing back at Cape Canaveral. Amazing right? But don’t worry, if you missed watching this moment live, you can still catch some of the upcoming launches happening on the Space Coast:

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June 24 - A Falcon Heavy rocket will lift with about two dozen satellites aboard. SpaceX and the Department of Defense are targeting to launch the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission. Location: Kennedy Space Center. Four-hour launch window opens at 11:30 p.m. EDT
June 27 - RESCHEDULED NET July 9 - A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch the fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite. This U.S. military spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin will provide highly-secure communications. Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station SLC-41.
July 2 - Orion Ascent Abort-2 Test will launch to show that it can carry a crew to safety in case of an emergency during launch. Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
July 21 - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 20th Dragon spacecraft mission on its 18th operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Launch time: 7:32 p.m. EDT
TBD (November 2019) - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on its first test flight with astronauts on-board to the International Space Station under the auspices of NASA’s commercial crew program. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will fly on the Demo-2 mission and will return to a splashdown at sea. Location: Kennedy Space Center.
TBD (late 2019) - Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will have a First Crewed Test Flight (expected to be in August) and then a Second Crewed Flight with the mission to arrive to the International Space Station.