As SpaceX enters second week on market, a look at the company’s presence in Florida
When you hear that weekly Florida rocket rumble, its likely SpaceX — the same company that just made headlines when it became publicly traded in what was estimated to be the largest IPO in history.
Founded in 2002, Elon Musk’s SpaceX opened stock trades Friday, June 12. According to Reuters, SpaceX’s IPO raised roughly $75 billion, valuing the company at roughly $1.75 trillion. The IPO made Musk the world’s first trillionaire and turned many long-standing employee shareholders into millionaires.
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SpaceX Dragon to begin journey home from ISS after Florida launch
A SpaceX vehicle is prepped to depart from the International Space Station and make its way back to Earth one month after launching from Florida.
The upcoming undocking and return trip for the Dragon cargo capsule would end the 34th resupply mission that entrepreneur Elon Musk’s commercial rocket company has carried out on behalf of NASA. The Dragon vehicle reached the iconic orbital outpost in the middle of May following a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.
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U.S. military eyes new Cape Canaveral launch site near Port Canaveral
Space Launch Delta 45 is exploring the potential creation of a new rocket launch complex about two miles north of the Port Canaveral channel entrance for Naval Ordnance Test Unit and U.S. Army missions.
Few details have been released, but here’s what we know. Located just southeast of Pier Road, the future Launch Complex 51 would encompass about a 50-acre area for construction of infrastructure, utilities and structures at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
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From KSC to nearby Cape Canaveral, your guide to launch pads in Florida
Florida has thoroughly etched its name in spaceflight history, with a strong argument to be made that a region in the state dubbed the “Space Coast” is the rocket launch capital of the U.S.
In 2025, the Sunshine State made history with 109 rocket launches – a record it’s on track to shatter once again in 2026. That’s why it’s no surprise that on any given week, you can expect multiple spacecraft – both with and without astronauts aboard – to take off from Brevard County.
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Live updates from SpaceX AST SpaceMobile mission from Cape Canaveral
Launch recap: Scroll down to review live updates from the Wednesday, June 17, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on the BlueBird 8-10 mission.
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Kennedy Space Center to Cape Canaveral, Florida’s launch pads explained
Where do rockets lift off? Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station power East Coast launches. Here’s a look at the launch pads.
Watch the video here.
Inside NASA’s daring mission to rescue a falling space telescope
NASA is planning a daring mission to save one of its space telescopes that is in danger of falling back to Earth.
The Swift Observatory has been observing the cosmos for more than two decades since its launch from Florida while orbiting around Earth. But in recent years, NASA has noticed that the critical satellite has begun unexpectedly getting lower and lower – putting it in danger of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
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SpaceX to launch mysterious Starfall capsule on demo mission Tuesday from Florida
SpaceX is preparing to launch its mysterious Starfall capsules atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, June 23, the company’s entry into a market that gives businesses an opportunity for in-space manufacturing in microgravity.
SpaceX has so far stayed silent on this project. But a final Federal Aviation Administration Environmental Assessment released in May reveals that the Starfall capsules are small and disk-shaped, measuring 0.75 meters tall – or approximately 2.5 feet. They will orbit Earth and re-enter under parachute in the Pacific Ocean.
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Blue Origin eyes Space Perspective’s former balloon factory in Titusville
Blue Origin is considering purchasing the 700-foot-long balloon-manufacturing structure formerly used by the defunct Space Perspective tourism company at Space Coast Regional Airport.
“They have an eye on the tent out back. So they’re in negotiations with the new Space Perspective owners, which I think will be a win for us,” Director of Airports Kevin Daugherty said during the Thursday, June 18, Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority board meeting.
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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman telescope arrives at Kennedy Space Center
NASA officials looked on as the agency’s Pegasus barge creeped into the Kennedy Space Center turn basin, carrying a space telescope with a field of vision 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope.
Meet the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope due to launch later this summer. Named for NASA’s first chief astronomer, the “mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,” the telescope left Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and traveled more than 800 miles aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge, arriving at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, June 21.
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For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly 321 Launch space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY, where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX IPO, Florida launch sites and AST SpaceMobile headline space newsletter
Reporting by Rick Neale, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Rick Neale, Florida Today | USA TODAY Network
