Why does NASA launch rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida?
NASA has been launching rockets from Florida for over 60 years, and there are benefits to launching from the Sunshine State, despite the sometimes volatile weather.
We look back on past accomplishments that helped drive America’s space program, including NASA, and helped pave the way for many more milestones to come.
NASA has been launching rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for over 60 years, but it wasn't the United States' first choice when launches began, and weather may have played a role in that decision.
The weather does not always cooperate for rocket launches, as more thunderstorms erupt in Florida per year than in any other state. Lightning from thunderstorms can be catastrophic to a rocket if it strikes in mid-flight. In 1987, lightning struck the AC-67 rocket less than a minute after liftoff, causing it to explode. Additionally, hurricanes and tropical storms can also threaten Florida.
Despite the threat of tumultuous weather, NASA still uses this as its main launch facility for two main reasons highlighted below.
The first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, (Photo/NASA/U.S. Army)
Proximity to the ocean
Some of the first American rockets were launched in the 1940s far away from Florida at the White Sands Missile Range, located in the desert of New Mexico. It was here that the United States launched its first rocket powerful enough to climb more than 62 miles (100 km) above the Earth’s surface, the boundary that marks the official start of outer space.
This part of New Mexico is a remote location where small rockets could be launched and later recovered after crashing in the desert. However, as rockets grew in size and began traveling farther than ever before, the United States needed to find a new site where rockets could be launched and travel safely over uninhabited areas.
The United States decided to move its large rocket launching operation to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and on July 24, 1950, the first of thousands of rockets was launched from the facility.
This picture shows the Atlas rocket and the newly-named Mercury spacecraft called Friendship 7 blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 20, 1962, carrying Col. John Glenn, Jr., as the first American to orbit the earth. Astronaut Glenn orbited three times around the globe at 17,400 miles an hour. (AP photo/NASA)
Cape Canaveral is located along the East Coast of the U.S., so rockets can be safely launched to the east over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
If there is an issue with the rocket after liftoff, spaceflight operators can safely put it down in the Atlantic Ocean without endangering the public.
Modern-day rockets are also comprised of multiple stages. When one stage runs out of fuel, it can be shed from the rocket and fall into the ocean without harm.
SpaceX has taken advantage of this, sending a floating platform out in the Atlantic Ocean where the first stage of its Falcon 9 rockets can land after sending its payload into space. Some rockets also return to the Florida coast, where they land not far away from where they blasted off moments prior.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket returns to a landing pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after a successful launch to resupply the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, July 25, 2019. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA has other operational launch sites, including Wallops Island, Virginia, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. SpaceX also has a launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas. All of these are located along the ocean, so the rockets can travel over the open water.
Speed boost from the Earth’s rotation
The second reason the United States uses Cape Canaveral as its primary launch site is its proximity to the equator.
“The west-to-east rotation of the Earth causes all points on Earth (except the poles themselves) to move eastward with some velocity,” NASA said.
This eastward velocity is greatest at the equator, with the Earth rotating at a speed of roughly 1,040 mph, and decreases as you travel away from the equator, eventually reaching zero directly over one of the poles.
NASA takes advantage of Earth’s natural rotation by launching toward the east from Cape Canaveral.
The speed of Earth's rotation at Cape Canaveral is roughly 914 mph, helping rockets gain extra speed to reach their destination.
In this long exposure photo, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station Thursday, March 2, 2023, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)
While it is not impossible to launch rockets from higher latitudes, the extra speed boost from the Earth’s rotation saves on fuel that would be used to help the rocket achieve the proper speed. As a result, a rocket launching from Florida can send a heavier spacecraft or satellite into space.
The extra speed from Earth’s rotation is one of the reasons why the European Space Agency (ESA) launches its rockets from French Guiana, which is located close to the equator, rather than from mainland Europe.
NASA is using Cape Canaveral as its primary launch site for the Artemis mission,s when humans will be propelled to the moon for the first time since 1972.
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