Cape Canaveral

ape Canaveral is a sandy headland on Florida’s Atlantic Ocean coast. (Cape Canaveral was officially renamed Cape Kennedy in 1963, but the name reverted to Cape Canaveral ten years later.) Cape Canaveral is home to two of the world’s most famous U. S. space launch sites, one of which is Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The station, operated by the U. S. Air Force, is the East Coast spaceport for the Department of Defense. The other space­port located on Cape Canaveral is the Kennedy Space Center.

Cape Canaveral was chosen as the leading U. S. launch site for three reasons. First, it is close to the equator. During a launch, rockets get an extra push from Earth’s rotation, and this effect is great­est nearest the equator. Second, there is
a vast expanse of ocean to the east of Cape Canaveral. Rockets that fail are likely to fall into the ocean, not onto land. Third, the area has good trans­portation links with the rest of the United States. These connections are important for the delivery of rockets, spacecraft, and supplies.