Businesses, residents looking forward to tourist spending ahead of crewed launch

Brevard County said it expects about 200,000 people to view the launch

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Ahead of Thursday’s crewed launch, businesses and residents in Titusville are looking forward to the influx of visitors.

Over at Pier 220 Seafood and Grill, Carla Souza said their business is looking forward to opening its doors to tourists.

“We are all up to work,” Souza said. “We have tourists who come from all over, they fly in. They get a hotel somewhere around close because we have a perfect view.”

[RELATED: Crew-2 launch day parking, traffic rules to know]

With the launch scheduled for 6:11 a.m. Thursday, Brevard County said it expects about 200,000 people to view the launch. That total is down from 250,000 from the last crewed launch in November. County officials site the expected decrease because of the early morning launch.

Karen and Jeff Wilson live in Titusville and said that it’s important for local businesses to receive the benefits of space tourism.

“It always has a wow factor,” Karen Wilson said.

“Hopefully, it will help these small businesses because we personally like the small businesses, better than the box store.” Jeff Wilson said.

The couple also said that it’s important to witness the launches in person.

“It’s history in the making. It’s always been exciting for everybody here because I mean we are right there on the shore. We get to watch it, you get to see it, experience it,” Jeff Wilson said.

Click here for parking information if you are headed to view the launch.


About the Author:

Troy graduated from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. He has reported on Mexican drug cartel violence on the El Paso/ Juarez border, nuclear testing facilities at the Idaho National Laboratory and severe Winter weather in Michigan.