Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
America’s past and future converge in Cape Canaveral
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
May 7, 2023
Orlando Sentinel
From bramble-filled sandy scrubland to the epicenter of the world’s commercial space race. The history of Cape Canaveral mirrors that of America itself. As the city celebrates its 60th birthday, it’s a time to reflect on how far we’ve come and press forward into the future.
Cape Canaveral’s story began in 1949,…when President Harry Truman ordered the installation of rocket proving grounds on a minor beachhead off the eastern coast of Florida…. By 1962, the Space Race was going ahead full steam, and the cape’s civilian population had grown accordingly. 215 freeholders gathered for an incorporation vote, and Cape Canaveral was officially born….
Ten of the two-man Gemini space missions took flight at Cape Canaveral. Several of the early Apollo missions launched there. So did the Voyager and Viking space probes, which brought human technology all the way to Mars. These are some of the most significant moments in history. They made Cape Canaveral one of the most significant places in the world.
But history didn’t end with the close of the Cold War…. Cape Canaveral and the nearby Kennedy Space Center are now a base of operations for SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Boeing, and a host of other companies…. The commercialization of space is happening before our eyes and in our backyard. This, along with the robust public-private partnerships developed over the years, is what America needs to maintain its strategic and technological edge….
What does all this mean for the cape’s civilian residents? It’s impossible to say exactly what they will witness in the coming years, but if the past is any indication of the future—and I hope that it is—it will certainly be historic.