Officials: Expect more than 111 rocket launches this year from Florida's Space Coast

Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nu?ez predicts more than 111 rockets will launch into orbit this year from Florida's Space Coast — an unprecedented total that would obliterate last year's mark by a 54% margin, at minimum.

"On any given day, you can look up and see one of those amazing launches. And I'll tell you, it is a sight to be seen. And we're just so proud of our Space Coast," Nu?ez told a keynote-speech crowd Wednesday morning during SpaceCom at the Orange County Convention Center.

"Our track record is undeniable. And it's signaling to the aerospace industry that in Florida, you can meet your aerospace objectives," Nu?ez said.

Cape Canaveral: Rocket launches in Florida: Here's an updating list of all 2024 Space Coast missions

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space Center have hosted an escalating number of launches the past three years. The Cape's annual record reached 31 annual orbital launches in 2021, then jumped to 57 launches in 2022 and 72 last year.

Space Force Col. Jessica Wedington also cited the 111-launch figure Saturday during her remarks at an Apollo 1 memorial ceremony at long-mothballed Launch Complex 34, the site of the capsule-fire tragedy 57 years ago.

The two-day SpaceCom conference is bringing more than 4,000 attendees and 200 exhibiting companies from all 50 states and 80 countries to Orlando, Nu?ez said.

What's launched so far this year from Space Coast?

During lunchtime Tuesday, the Space Coast notched its seventh launch of January when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft on a NASA resupply mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Cape's other six launches this month:

• Jan. 3: An Ovzon-3 communications satellite launched from a SpaceX Falcon 9.

• Jan. 7: SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on its Starlink 6-35 mission.

• Jan. 8: United Launch Alliance's next-generation Vulcan flew its first certification mission.

• Jan. 14: SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on its Starlink 6-37 mission.

• Jan. 18: Axiom Space sent private astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and Falcon 9. 

• Jan. 28: SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on its Starlink 6-37 mission.

The Space Coast's 72 launches last year accounted for about 68% of all U.S. launches, Nu?ez said.

During her SpaceCom remarks, Nu?ez recalled having a conversation last week with retired NASA astronaut Winston Scott, a Melbourne resident who served as a mission specialist aboard shuttles Endeavour in 1996 and Columbia in 1997.

"He was so passionate about the work he's done. And he reminded me that, really, space has its roots throughout the entire economy: throughout health care, throughout research," Nu?ez said.

"And he continued to tell me how when you invest in space, you're investing in the United States' overall success," she said.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY . Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida Lt. Gov. Nu?ez: Space Coast to host 111+ launches in 2024