Artemis II tourism: Over 340K visitors came to Florida's Space Coast for historic crewed launch

Artemis II launch brought over $41M in tourism dollars to Space Coast

After thousands of locals and visitors flocked to the Space Coast to watch the historic Artemis II launch in person, the numbers are in.  Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism reported over 350,000 people traveled to Brevard County during the week of the launch – boosting tourism to businesses in the area. 

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - After thousands of locals and visitors flocked to the Space Coast to watch the historic Artemis II launch in person, the numbers are in. April was a record-breaking month for the Space Coast. 

Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism reported over 350,000 people traveled to Brevard County during the week of the launch – boosting tourism to businesses in the area. 

What we know:

During the week of March 26 to April 4, 2026, approximately 346,000 visitors came to the Space Coast to watch the Artemis II launch from the Kennedy Space Center. While only a select few were able to watch the April 1 launch from the KSC, viewers gathered to see the launch from Jetty Park, the Max Brewer Bridge and more. 

Crowds gathered to watch the first crewed moon mission in 50 years. In its 10-day mission, Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission specialist Christina Koch, Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen conducted lunar observations on the fly-by mission. 

Additionally, 

By the numbers:

Research gathered in cell data shows nearly 100,000 more visitors to the Space Coast for the Artemis II launch compared to the Artemis I launch in 2002. 

• Visitors for Artemis II launch: 346,000
• Visitors for Artemis I launch: 226,000 in 2022
• Data also showed an average of 55,000 out-of-country visitors traveled to the Space Coast for nine other major launches over the years, including New Glenn and crewed launches to the International Space Station.

How do launches bring in tourism dollars? 

According to Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism, a single visitor's average spending per day is $231. Cell tracking software shows visitors typically stay for two days – totaling to an average of $462 per person. Based on this data, visitors spent over $41 million during the launch week, the office of tourism said. 

What's next:

Space officials want to increase the number of launches per year, with as many as 500 launches per year, FOX 35's Esther Bower reported after speaking with Col. Brian Chatman, SLD 45 commander. 

Chatman also discussed planning to improve infrastructure and transportation routes for rockets. 

"Identifying things like a booster transport lane, things that weren’t a challenge or issue in the days of yesterday are absolutely going to be something we need to plan for days of tomorrow," he said.