ORLANDO, Fla. – Former astronaut and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., says the Space Coast has the opportunity to become the Silicon Valley of space after Monday's successful landing of a SpaceX rocket.
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The landing came after the launch of an Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The rocket carried eleven satellites into orbit.
Space X founder Elon Musk cheered when the booster rocket returned to Earth, landing vertically on a target six miles south of the launch site.
"This is going to become another Silicon Valley right here," Nelson said, referring to Brevard County's space coast region. "This will be the space Silicon Valley of the future of the U.S."
Nelson spent six days in space in 1986, orbiting above Earth aboard the space shuttle Columbia.
He says he watched Tuesday night's launch from his Orlando home hoping the rocket would propel back just like it was designed to do.
"I was cheering and shouting and running from the television to my balcony and looking up to the east to see the rocket come back, and then running back to the television to see the landing," Nelson told News 6.
He applauded Space X's achievements.
He said he hopes it translates into a solid economy burgeoning ion Brevard County.
"If companies can go into space and make money, then we're going to see an explosion of economic activity all over Central Florida," he said.