Uranus, via the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: ESA
Space X’s massive Starship has been designed with the capacity to boost up to 150 tons into low-Earth orbit, far more than rockets currently in common use. With its success, the potential for launching larger payloads — whether cargo, satellites, or entire interplanetary spacecraft — becomes more tantalizing to deep space mission designers looking to explore other planets and asteroids.
Aside from the launchpads at KSC and Vandenberg, MARS, or the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, is the third busiest launch site in the United States. MARS, also called Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), offers different launch trajectories that are not available at Florida launch sites. Typically, Wallops supports the launch and recovery of sounding rockets, which are small payloads compared to what is launched in Florida.
Tampa International Airport. Credit: Tampa International Airport
Thanksgiving travel is already picking up across the country, and Florida is one of the busiest starting points and destinations. Hundreds of thousands of passengers will pass through Miami, Orlando, and Tampa this week, and that means traffic, crowds, and long lines. A little extra planning makes the difference between a smooth start and a hectic one. Here are some tips and reminders to help you have as stress-free an experience as possible:
Less than a week after completing its first successful drone-ship landing on November 13, 2025, Blue Origin’s New Glenn booster made its overland return today, November 20, to the company’s Cape Canaveral facility. The recovered first stage—scorched from reentry and wrapped in protective coverings—arrived at Port Canaveral earlier in the week before beginning this mornings carefully coordinated transport through the port district.
It has been a big week for Blue Origin, first with the second launch of New Glenn, the successful landing of the first stage. As they were moving the first stage of last week’s New Glenn flight, the company casually made three major announcements today in one press release: a new, supersized New Glenn for megapayloads, ramping up the power output of its BE-4 and BE-3U engine used on the second stage of the current New Glenn, as well as the 9X4. It might be a while for the megarocket to be on the launch pad, but the engine advancements start arriving on the next New Glenn flight, NG-3.
Rocket Lab's latest HASTE mission lifted off from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 8AM on Tuesday, November 18th. The mission, initially known only as "VAN", was later announced as "Prometheus Run." Electron transits the sun.…
A stratospheric warming event similar to the winter of 2021 could drive unusually cool air into Florida this winter. Graphic: Weatherbell
A pool of unusually warm air is building high above the Arctic, and scientists say it could signal a shift in the winter forecast for the southern United States.
Blue Origin recovered its New Glenn booster for the first time ever today following a launch from Cape Canaveral. The recovery makes the company only the second in history to develop a reusable booster. Photo: Blue Origin
Blue Origin notched a major success this afternoon as its towering New Glenn rocket roared away from Launch Complex 36, completing the company’s second orbital flight and sending a pair of NASA spacecraft on a long journey toward Mars. The launch, designated NG-2, lifted off at 3:55 p.m. Eastern after a week marked by weather delays, solar activity concerns, and heightened anticipation along Florida’s Space Coast.
It was a sight few Floridians ever expect to see. Late Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday, streaks of soft red and violet light rippled faintly across the northern horizon, visible from as far south as Central Florida. The northern lights — usually reserved for those in Alaska, Canada, or northern Europe — paid a rare visit to the Sunshine State.
Blue Origin’s second New Glenn rocket underwent a hotfire test earlier this week. Photo: Blue Origin
All eyes will be on Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday November 9, 2025. Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy lift rocket will attempt to successfully launch NASA’s ESCAPADE mission (NG-2) to an orbit around Mars.
Launches like Blue Origin’s NG-2 are not subject to the new FAA order, since it is a NASA mission. Photo: Blue Origin
The Federal Aviation Administration announced a big change on November 6, 2025, that will dramatically alter the way commercial rocket launches are conducted in the United States…at least for now. Effective November 10, all commercial launches and reentries will be restricted to nighttime hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time. The emergency order, described by officials as a necessary response to ongoing staffing shortages, immediately sent ripples through the nation’s growing commercial space industry, particularly across Florida’s Space Coast, where many of the country’s launches take place.
Florida’s allure has always been its promise — warm weather, opportunity, and a better life under the sun. But a growing number of residents now say that promise is slipping away, as the cost of living climbs faster than paychecks and patience.
