After Artemis II wowed, Florida rocket launches are only due to climb
Rockets are flying more than ever across the US. Here's how Florida is leading the way.
In April, the world watched in awe as four intrepid astronauts were launched into space from Florida toward the moon atop NASA's most powerful rocket ever. That mission, known as Artemis II, captivated the public for 10 days as three Americans and one Canadian made a trip around the moon and back to Earth. To many observers, Artemis II signified the dawn of a new era of space exploration as NASA aims to return Americans to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.
But while the mission has without a doubt been the most high-profile launch of 2026 – reigniting public interest in human spaceflight in a way not seen since the Apollo era – it hardly stands alone.
By now, rockets are launching almost every day from U.S. soil – most without people aboard. In fact, just one other mission so far in 2026 – a joint NASA and SpaceX mission launched Feb. 13 to the International Space Station known as Crew-12 – sent astronauts to space.
In Florida and beyond, rocket launches have become so routine that most barely bat an eye when SpaceX, for instance, launches its Falcon 9 multiple times a week – a feat followed by a maneuver that even more impressively has somehow become mundane: the rocket's first-stage booster returning for a bullseye landing on a ship in the middle of the ocean.
And while both the east and west coasts have ushered in record year after record year for launches, rockets are only due to fly more and more frequently in the years ahead.
Here's why rocket launches are predicted to dramatically increase in Florida and across the United States, and what that means for Americans and the spaceflight industry.
FAA predicts commercial rocket launches to spike in next decade
As NASA increasingly cedes spaceflight missions to commercial companies that were once the realm of government space agencies, those sorts of missions have steadily been increasing year after year.
For instance, SpaceX, the commercial spaceflight company founded by tech mogul Elon Musk, has launched its Falcon 9 rocket hundreds of times from California and Florida – making it by far the most active rocket in the world. The two-stage 230-foot rocket is not only used to deliver SpaceX's only Starlink internet satellites to Earth orbit, but is also used to propel astronauts to the space station and is contracted for a variety of commercial, civil and military payload deployments.
Now, the Federal Aviation Administration – which licenses commercial rocket launches – is predicting that the rate of rocket launches across the United States is only expected to grow in the next decade.
The FAA is predicting nearly 4,300 launches between fiscal 2026-2036, with spaceflights increasing annually from more than 200 a year to more than 500, according to the agency's 10-year forecast released in July.
Florida has record year in 2025 for rocket launches
Led by SpaceX and NASA's Artemis program, the number of rocket launches per year are expected to more than double annually by 2036.
The projection should be no surprise to even casual observers of the spaceflight industry in the United States.
SpaceX's pioneering method to recover and reuse rocket boosters has not only made manufacturing spacecraft cheaper, but has also led to faster turnaround times between missions.
President Donald Trump and his Republican administration, meanwhile, have long sought to strip away regulations on the commercial spaceflight industry.
The result is prominently being seen in Florida, a central hub for U.S. spaceflight where a record 109 rocket launches were conducted in 2025. SpaceX and its Falcon 9 workhorse were responsible for 101 of those missions, taking place at both NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Brevard County.
The United Launch Alliance also conducted six launches using its Atlas V and Vulcan rockets in 2025, while Blue Origin launched its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket twice.
Rocket launches dip in 2026 as SpaceX makes way for Starship
In 2026, Florida remains slightly behind a record-setting pace after the 52nd rocket just got off the ground Aug. 15. Much of the lull can be contributed to SpaceX transitioning all Falcon 9 rocket launches to one launch pad, Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida TODAY previously reported. This comes as Musk's company works to prepare Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for flight tests of its mammoth Starship rocket, which could commence before the end of 2026.
Starship, the world's largest rocket – standing at more than 400-feet tall when fully stacked – has so far launched exclusively from SpaceX's Starbase headquarters in South Texas on 13 flight tests since 2023. The two-stage spacecraft is vital not just to Musk's own personal dreams of colonizing Mars, but NASA's Artemis lunar ambitions.
Florida's KSC central to Artemis moon missions
The surge in rocket launches is due to a variety of circumstances that have increased the demand for launch providers to up their cadence. Most prominently, NASA is racing against China to return Americans to the moon under its Artemis campaign.
As the home of the Kennedy Space Center along the Atlantic coast, Florida is at the center of the program. The rocket NASA uses to get Artemis missions off the ground from Merritt Island – the 322-foot Space Launch System (SLS) – is even more powerful than the Saturn V rocket of the Apollo era.
Following the Artemis II mission in April, NASA is preparing to get the SLS rocket off the ground once again in 2027 for one of the agency's most complicated missions to date. Artemis III will send four more astronauts to Earth orbit, where they will spend two weeks testing docking procedures with both SpaceX's and Blue Origin's lunar landers – each of which will need to hitch a ride to space during two separate rocket launches.
The test mission would set the stage for a crewed moon landing as early as 2028 known as Artemis IV. From there, NASA looks to use a series of crewed and uncrewed missions to build a $20 billion moon base by 2032 close to the south pole where rotating crews of astronauts can live and work longterm.
SpaceX Starlink, other satellite ventures drive launch surge
Also behind the rise of rocket launches is the fact that more and more aerospace startups are looking to get in the satellite deployment business that SpaceX has seemingly cornered with its lucrative Starlink venture. For years, SpaceX has launched its Falcon 9 from both Florida and California to build up a massive constellation of more than 10,000 satellites in a region nearer the atmosphere known as low-Earth orbit.
Now, though, other companies like Jeff Bezos' Amazon have sought to challenge their grip on the industry with satellite constellations of their own.
Space tourism also remains a profitable industry, with Virgin Galactic looking to capitalize on Blue Origin's two-year hiatus from the sector as Bezos' spaceflight company focuses on its towering New Glenn rocket and lunar landers.
Blue Origin also aims to resume operations in Florida
Speaking of Blue Origin, the company suffered a massive setback at the end of May when its New Glenn rocket exploded on the pad at Launch Complex 36A at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Since then, the company has investigated the cause of the explosion – since attributed to a faulty main oxygen valve on one of the rocket's BE-4 engines – as it works toward the goal of launching New Glenn again from Florida before the year is out.
What's more, Blue Origin announced Aug. 12 that it would develop a second launch pad at nearby Launch Complex 36B to accommodate a larger version of New Glenn known as the New Glenn 9x4 – pivotal to a variety of future missions.
What does this mean for Florida residents? More rocket launches to watch
If you want to experience a rocket getting off the ground and thundering overhead, you'll have plenty of opportunities. Florida is home to plenty of beaches and other spots that have become popular among spectators, while livestreams are almost always readily available for most rocket launches across the United States.
So, sit back, relax and enjoy the rise of what NASA often refers to as 'the golden age of innovation and exploration.'
