Sending humans out past the moon for the first time in more than half a century enticed nearly 350,000 people to descend on Florida's Space Coast for the Artemis II mission that launched from Kennedy Space Center.

NASA’s powerhouse Space Launch System rocket, topped with the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts, shot into space from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B on April 1 for a 10-day trip that flew around — but didn’t land on — the moon. It marked the first time humans had left low-Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission of 1972.

From March 26 to April 1, approximately 346,000 visitors came toe Brevard County for a chance to witness the launch, according to data compiled by the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

That total includes more than 90,000 out-of-county visitors for the actual launch, based on data from cell device tracking software.

Crowds crammed into parks throughout northern Brevard County to get close-up views. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex sold out of its launch packages early on, closing the attraction to only those with special tickets on launch day. Port Canaveral’s Jetty Park also sold out in the days leading up to launch.

In comparison, the week of the uncrewed Artemis I launch in November 2022 saw 226,000 visitors.

These two missions are the biggest draws in the last several years, although the agency stated that nine other major launches have logged an average of 55,000 out-of-county visitors.

Those include the first Blue Origin New Glenn rocket launches, the crewed Polaris Dawn mission with Jared Isaacman, several crewed launches to the International Space Station and SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches.

The agency’s research states a launch viewer spends an average of $231 each day, and the cell tracking data notes the average state of an Artemis II visitor was two days for an average of $462 per person.

That totals an economic impact of $41 million in spending on the Space Coast in one week.

Other big launches expected to draw crowds in the coming years include the debut of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy, which could launch from KSC on its first operational flight later this year, the Crew-13 mission to the space station and next year’s crewed Artemis III mission.

While Artemis III won’t be headed to the moon, it will once again fly four astronauts on the Orion spacecraft launching atop SLS.

Then in 2028, Artemis IV looks to return humans back to the surface of the moon.

_____

©2026 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.