Trump, Pence likely will watch launch in Florida

In historic move, SpaceX to carry astronauts to ISS

It appears that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will both be at the Space Coast for SpaceX’s seminal launch next week, the first to carry humans to the International Space Station from U.S. soil in nine years.

Gov. Ron DeSantis seemed to let the news slip during a roundtable discussion regarding Central Florida’s tourism industry in Orlando at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel attended by Vice President Mike Pence and numerous local tourism executives.

DeSantis said he was excited about the launch, which will be the first since the end of the space shuttle program to carry humans into space from the Cape. Since the end of the program, American astronauts have launched on Russian Soyuz rockets instead.

The launch, from Kennedy Space Center’s historic launch complex 39A, is scheduled for 4:33 p.m. Wednesday.

“I think the big guy is going to be there. So, I’ll certainly be there,” DeSantis said. “We’re looking forward to doing that. He’s been a great advocate for the space industry both in terms of NASA but also the private sector.”

The White House has not yet confirmed whether Trump is traveling to Florida.

Pence, who chairs the National Space Council, has been in Florida for several milestones in the past few years, including the announcement of Space Command, the 11th combatant command to provide unified control overall space military operations. He confirmed Wednesday that he’ll be in Florida next week to watch astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

“I’m gonna be back here in a week,” Pence said. “…I know how important the space enterprise is here in the history of Florida. But I want to tell you that President Trump and I know that the history of space that will be written is going to be greater still and Florida will play, the Space Coast will play a key role in that.”