BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Florida\u2019s Space Coast closed out 2025 with a record 109 rocket launches. <\/p>\n
And the pace isn\u2019t expected to let up in 2026. Florida Tech professor Dr. Don Platt told Eyewitness News \u201cI think that we\u2019re going to see a little bit more variety in what\u2019s flying in the Florida skies in 2026.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition to SpaceX\u2019s fleet of falcon 9 rockets \u2013 the company could launch its first Starship from Florida before the end of the year. <\/p>\n
Additionally, ULA is expected to pick up its launch cadence as the company transitions from its Atlas V to its Vulcan Centaur Rocket. <\/p>\n
And NASA will launch four astronauts on an Orion spacecraft atop the agency\u2019s SLS rocket no later than April. The Artemis II mission will take those astronauts on a 10-day mission around the moon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say that that\u2019s probably the biggest global space activity in 2026, if successful with a return to humanity to deep space for the first time since 1972 and that is a very important next step towards humans on the surface of the moon,\u201d said Platt.<\/p>\n
NASA is also working with multiple companies to launch uncrewed Commercial Lunar Payload Services<\/a><\/p>\n In Low Earth orbit, 2026 could bring the launch of the first privately built space station- Vast\u2019s Haven-1. NASA plans to retire the International Space Station in 2030.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n