CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – As SpaceX waits on the feds to allow rocket launches again here, locals and visitors are without the signature perk of being on the Space Coast.
Last week, News 6 reported how all Falcon 9 launches are grounded as the Federal Aviation Administration looks into how the reliable and repeatedly-used rocket failed during a mission for the first time since 2015.
SpaceX has already asked the FAA to resume Falcon 9 launches, but while they’re still grounded, Henry Juan from the Tampa Bay area was unable to enjoy watching a launch in addition to his beach vacation at Jetty Park.
He told News 6′s James Sparvero he wasn’t surprised, though.
“It would have been nice to see a launch, but I knew it probably wasn’t going to happen because of the suspension,” Juan said. “But we’re good. We’ve seen them before.”
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The father vacationing with his sons was confident SpaceX would be flying again within the next month.
Of the 50 local launches so far in 2024, 46 have been SpaceX rockets.
CBS News space expert Bill Harwood said the rapid launch pace will help SpaceX fix the problem faster, too.
“That very rapid pace and being able to absorb the risk of launching their own payloads is going to give them a chance to get over this faster than a more traditional rocket company,” Harwood said.
Brevard County’s tourism director Peter Cranis said he’s not too concerned about the pause in launches on the short-term impact of tourism.
However, if SpaceX cannot get the FAA’s approval to resume launches by the end of the month, then the launch date for Polaris Dawn would be in jeopardy. That’s the next crewed mission.
The next astronaut mission to the International Space Station isn’t far off, either. Crew-9 is supposed to launch in August.
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