Return to Launch: Florida and America's Space Industry

The rise of Cape Canaveral’s “second space age” and the nation’s expansion of spacefaring initiatives in the twenty-first century Return to Launch is the story of how one state reshaped the trajectory of the US space program and helped usher in a new era of spaceflight.Stephen Smith takes readers behind the scenes of Florida’s Space Coast, revealing how local leaders, federal policymakers, and entrepreneurs transformed a region once bracing for economic collapse into the center of the NewSpace revolution. This is the first book to spotlight Florida’s role in the rise of modern reusable space technologies and the shift from government-led missions to collaboration with private and commercial enterprise.Smith reveals how, after George W. Bush announced the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2004, the actions of individuals including Barack Obama and Elon Musk changed the course of NASA-with pushback from those who feared the loss of federal contracts.He tackles provocative questions, su