The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is one of several "themed" coasts around Florida. All orbital launches from American soil carrying NASA astronauts (running from Project Mercury in 1961 to the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, and since 2020 using the SpaceX Dragon 2) have departed from either KSC or Cape Canaveral. The Space Force Station has also launched unmanned military and civilian rockets. Cities in the area include Port St. John, Titusville,

Cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

, Rockledge,

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

, Merritt Island (unincorporated), Cocoa Beach, Melbourne,

Satellite Beach Satellite Beach is a coastal city in Brevard County, Florida, U.S. The population was 11,346 at the 2020 United States Census, and it is located with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Indian River to the west. Satellite Beach is part of t ...

, Indian Harbour Beach,

Indialantic Indialantic (officially incorporated as Indialantic-By-The-Sea, though the official name is seldom used in casual parlance) is a town in Brevard County, Florida. The town's population was 2,720 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the ...

Melbourne Beach Melbourne Beach is a town in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 3,101 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Ais Indians resided in the area i ...

, Palm Bay, and Viera (unincorporated). Most of the area lies within Brevard County. It is bounded on the south by the Treasure Coast, on the west and north by Central Florida (and is economically tied to that region), and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. One reason rockets are launched from the Space Coast has to do with the Earth's rotation. The Earth rotates from west to east, most quickly at the equator, and to take advantage of this, adding the speed of rotation to the orbital velocity of the rocket, it is most beneficial to launch eastward from a location near the equator. Launching from an uninhabited location on an easterly coast at low latitude, minimizing the danger posed by debris from a failed launch, is ideal both for the safety of the people on the ground and for fuel efficiency of the rocket. Given the high population densities in coastal Texas, South Florida, and Puerto Rico, the Space Coast is often considered the best location when all factors are taken into account.

Space-named landmarks (outside KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station)

Many places near the Cape are named for subjects relating to the US space program including vehicles, astronauts, and the spaceport itself. * Alan Shepard Park, Cocoa Beach * Apollo Boulevard, Melbourne * Apollo Elementary School, Titusville * Armstrong Drive, Titusville * Astronaut Boulevard, Cape Canaveral * Astronaut High School, Titusville * Atlantis Elementary School, Port St. John * Bayside High School, Palm Bay * Challenger 7 Elementary School, Port St. John * Challenger Memorial Parkway, ( State Road 407), Titusville * Chaffee Drive, Titusville * Christa McAuliffe

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

, Merritt Island * Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, Palm Bay * Columbia Boulevard ( State Road 405), Titusville * Columbia Elementary School, Palm Bay * Columbia Village, Melbourne ( Florida Institute of Technology) * Discovery Elementary School, Palm Bay * Endeavour Elementary Magnet school, Cocoa * Enterprise Elementary School, Cocoa * Freedom 7 Elementary School, Cocoa Beach * Gemini Elementary School, Melbourne Beach * Grissom Parkway, Cocoa *

I Dream Of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marrie ...

Drive, Cocoa Beach * John F. Kennedy Middle School, Rockledge * Jupiter Boulevard, Palm Bay * Kennedy Point Park, Titusville * MILA Elementary School, Merritt Island (an abbreviation for "Merritt Island Launch Area") * Minutemen Causeway, Cocoa Beach * NASA Boulevard ( State Road 508), Melbourne * Ronald McNair Middle Magnet School, Rockledge * Satellite Beach, Florida * Satellite Boulevard, Cocoa *

Satellite High School Satellite High School is a public high school (grades 9 - 12) located in Satellite Beach, Florida in Florida's Space Coast, Brevard County. It was founded in 1962, and has been rated an 'A' school in the state of Florida since 2003 . The mascot is ...

, Satellite Beach * Shepard Drive, Titusville * Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School * Space Coast Stadium, Viera, Florida * Space Coast Surge, a member of the Florida Winter Baseball League played out of Cocoa in 2009 * Space View Park, Titusville * White Drive, Titusville

Telephone area code

When the region became too heavily populated to be served by only one

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

, a local resident Robert Osband (aka Richard Cheshire) discovered that

area code 321 Area code 321 is the area code serving Brevard County, Florida, Space Coast Region and Seminole County, Florida. The area code has been in use since November 1, 1999; it was assigned to Florida (instead of suburban Chicago) after a successful petit ...

was not assigned to any other territory (though it was being considered for the suburban Chicago area).This includes most of the county except the Southern portion. If each number is pronounced individually—"3, 2, 1"—the pronunciation resembles the countdown before liftoff; thus, the resident petitioned for the code to be assigned to the Space Coast region. His efforts were popular among local residents and resulted in success; the new code officially became effective on November 1, 1999.

Tourism

Because it is home to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station the local area is popular with visitors to watch rocket launches in person. Over 100,000 people are believed to have been present in February 2018 for the Falcon Heavy test flight. It is home to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, US Space Walk of Fame, and the

Air Force Space and Missile Museum The Air Force Space and Missile Museum is located at Launch Complex 26 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It includes artifacts from the early American space program and includes an outdoor area displaying rockets, missiles, and spa ...

. Nearly 1 million people were present to watch the last space shuttle launch in 2011. 150,000 people were present for the Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch. The area is also home to many space-themed businesses. 750,000 to 900,000 people gathered on the space coast to watch the Apollo 11 launch in 1969. The area also sees Christmas tourism, as thousands of people attend the

Surfing Santas Surfing Santas is an annual festival held in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on Christmas Eve. Participants dress up as Santa Claus and surf, while thousands of spectators watch from the beach, which hosts a costume competition and live music. Event Surf ...

festival in Cocoa Beach (by Cape Canaveral) over the holiday season.

Media

''Brevard Business News'' is a weekly newspaper in Melbourne, Florida, United States covering business news and trends for the Space Coast. Fred Krupski started Brevard Business News in 1981,Mathers, Sandra
"She Mastered World Of Weekly Newspapers"
'' Orlando Sentinel'', April 18, 1997. Retrieved on May 26, 2011. and Adrienne B. Roth purchased it in 1986.

Notes

References