321 Launch: Space news you may have missed over the past week

John McCarthy, Florida Today
·2 min read
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The rocket is carrying a commercial communications satellite. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The rocket is carrying a commercial communications satellite. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK

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Welcome to 321 Launch, Florida Today's wrapup of all the space new you might have missed this past week.

Fireworks start early on the Space Coast, thanks to SpaceX, ULA

The Independence Day fireworks shows got off to an early start courtesy of SpaceX and the United Launch Alliance.

The shows started late Wednesday afternoon at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station when a SpaceX Falcon 9 vaulted from Launch Complex 40 carrying a European communications satellite to orbit.

ULA was supposed to follow up with an Atlas V launch Thursday evening, but the weather didn't cooperate. But ULA found a hole on the clouds Friday evening and were able to send the Atlas V — and its national security payloads — to orbit.

Up next: A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on July 14 on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Indialantic man set to fly on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket

Steve Young, who owns Pineapples in Eau Gallie, stands next to an astronaut-themed mural of himself outside the venue's second-floor Moon Room.
Steve Young, who owns Pineapples in Eau Gallie, stands next to an astronaut-themed mural of himself outside the venue's second-floor Moon Room.

Despite its nickname as the Space Coast, Brevard County has produced on a handful of astronauts.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who was raised in Malabar, flew on the Space Shuttle in the 1980s as a member of Congress. Nicole Stott was chosen for the Astronaut corps after serving as engineer at the Kennedy Space Center. Before he was selected as an astronaut, Joseph Acaba taught at Melbourne High School.

Steve Young is about to join them.

Young, owner of Pineapples, a restaurant and entertainment venue in Eau Gallie, is set to take a suborbital hop on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket from remote West Texas. The date of the flight hasn't been set.

The longtime Indialantic resident, recently sold the telecommunications-installation giant Y-Com.

"With the sale of the company came lots of stupid money. And with stupid money, you can do stupid things," Young said.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by subscribing to FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

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