Science Florida Today 321 Launch: Space news you may have missed over the past week (Jan. 5)

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Florida DEP to host January meeting on Blue Origin wastewater permit

After significant opposition emerged, Brevard County residents will get the chance to chime in on Blue Origin’s industrial wastewater permit renewal at its huge Rocket Park manufacturing complex on northern Merritt Island.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will conduct a public meeting on Blue Origin’s permit from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Brevard County UF/IFAS Extension Building. The address is 3695 Lake Drive in unincorporated west Cocoa.

Read the full story here.

What to expect from Cape Canaveral rocket scene in 2026

A new era of lunar exploration and space innovation is poised to unfold along Florida’s Space Coast as NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin prepare for history-making launches in 2026.

While 2025 saw a record number of launches —including crewed exploration, science missions, and even an historic first booster landing by Blue Origin’s New Glenn — 2026 will showcase Cape Canaveral’s fast evolving future. The landscape and skyline of Cape Canaveral is rapidly transforming.

Read the full story here.

Florida’s Space Coast hosts record-breaking 109 rocket launches in 2025

Talk about a launch cadence gaining pace. During 2022, a record-breaking 57 orbital rockets launched from Florida’s Space Coast as ever-expanding internet-broadband constellations gained footholds in low-Earth orbit.

Now, that annual record has nearly doubled within a mere three-year span. An unprecedented 109 rockets lifted off during 2025 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s neighboring Kennedy Space Center.

Read the full story here.

First Florida SpaceX rocket launch of 2026 set for Sunday

After capping off the year with a new Florida launch record, SpaceX will kick off 2026 with a weekend Falcon 9 rocket launch.

It’s been a quiet few weeks over the holiday season as the last Space Coast launch was Dec. 17. This left the 2025 record sitting at 109. While it was a record launch year for Florida, it was a record year for SpaceX as well. Florida-based Falcon 9 rockets accounted for 101 of those 109 launches.

Read the full story here.

Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX rocket launch schedule in Florida

Florida’s Space Coast just hosted a record-shattering 109 orbital rocket launches during 2025, soaring beyond all previous annual records.

Will this year’s final total surpass that lofty sum from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center?

Read the full story here.

L3Harris $843M ‘Golden Dome’ missile-satellite work coming to Palm Bay

L3Harris Technologies has secured a Space Development Agency contract worth up to $843 million to build 18 more infrared national-security missile-tracking satellites, which will undergo integration and testing at the defense giant’s Palm Bay campus.

L3Harris’ secretive $100 million satellite facility at Building 31 off Palm Bay Road has scaled up to full production — as major contracts are rolling out for President Donald Trump’s future “Golden Dome” defense system against incoming ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

Read the full story here.

Recap of Florida’s first SpaceX rocket launch of the year

Recap of the Starlink 6-88 mission, which launched 1:48 a.m. on Jan. 4 from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Read the full story here.

Max Space looks to Kennedy Space Center to manufacture space habitats

A company establishing a manufacturing presence at Kennedy Space Center plans to use innovative Kevlar-like materials to build an expandable space habitat for low Earth orbit in a bid to answer NASA’s call for a permanent presence on the moon and, someday, even Mars.

Max Space, a company establishing manufacturing at Exploration Park in Kennedy Space Center, recently released to the public the concept for its upcoming Thunderbird Station. Unlike other space stations designs, made up of interconnected metal modules launched individually, Max Space is taking a different approach.

Read the full story here.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY, where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 321 Launch: Space news you may have missed over the past week (Jan. 5)