OUR VIEW: Space Coast Shatters Launch Record as Three Companies Rocket Into History

Rockets, Reuse and Record Pace: Brevard County’s Space Boom Accelerates

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — The Space Coast has long been the heart of America’s space program. But in November, it became something even more: a living launch corridor where history unfolded almost nightly.

In a remarkably short span, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) all sent missions skyward from Brevard County, a concentration of activity that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago — and one that now defines daily life from Mims to Micco.

As of November 20, Florida’s Space Coast recorded 100 orbital launches from its pads and padsites, including Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, during 2025.

Residents poured into backyards, beaches, and riverbanks as the night sky ignited in white and orange. Space Coast Daily highlighted these launches as exhaust plumes rippling through clouds above Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral.

SpaceX, as usual, led the charge.

On its busiest night on November 14, the company launched Falcon 9 rockets just hours apart, carrying Starlink satellites into orbit to expand global broadband service. Then came the moment Space Coast residents now watch for as intently as liftoff itself: the returns.

Out at sea, first-stage boosters fell back through the atmosphere and landed on autonomous droneships in the Atlantic Ocean, rising from the darkness like pillars of flame before touching down on floating platforms with eerie precision.

Then it was finally Blue Origin’s turn.

Jeff Bezos’ New Glenn rocket roared into orbit from Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s ESCAPADE mission — two spacecraft bound for Mars to study how the Red Planet lost its atmosphere and magnetic field. This was not space tourism. This was deep-space science, launched from Brevard County’s shoreline.

Minutes later, Blue Origin successfully landed the massive booster on an offshore platform, a milestone long associated with SpaceX but now signaling Blue Origin’s arrival as a true competitor in orbital and interplanetary spaceflight after years of development.

United Launch Alliance completed the trifecta with a heavy satellite mission, reinforcing a new and undeniable reality: Brevard County is no longer home to a single launch provider. It is the launch hub of the global commercial space industry.

By mid-November, the Space Coast had already surpassed 90 orbital launches for 2025, putting the region on pace to exceed 100 in a single year for the first time. A decade ago, that number would have sounded like science fiction.

For residents, the change is impossible to ignore. Launches are no longer special occasions. They are calendar items. Sometimes, they are double-headers. What is now unfolding on the Space Coast is not simply a wave of launches — it is Brevard County reaffirming its place at the center of the world’s space story.

Just as Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo once rose from our shores, a new era is now being built by the people who live here — the engineers, technicians, boat captains, range crews, teachers, and families who make launches possible long before the countdown begins.

Look up along the Indian River on a clear night, and you’ll see it: Brevard County is where history rises in fire and steel. The Space Coast endured dark years, the end of the Shuttle program, and doubts that the frontier had passed us by.

But we reclaimed our destiny, sending rockets into the sky that carry not just satellites, but the hopes of generations. Each launch is a reminder: this community dares to dream bigger, move faster, and go farther than anyone thought possible. The future doesn’t arrive here — we launch it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Palermo, president and publisher of Space Coast Daily, has lived on Florida’s Space Coast for over 40 years, witnessing America’s space program firsthand. A veteran media entrepreneur, he has founded numerous print and digital publications, written thousands of articles, hosted a weekly radio show, and leads Maverick Multimedia, Inc. He co-founded Brevard Production Inc., producing major regional events, and serves as founder and president of the Space Coast Publishers Guild, advocating innovation and integrity across the media industry.

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