Artemis 2 Launch Draws Nearly 350,000 Visitors to Florida Space Coast
Summary: NASA's Artemis 2 crewed lunar mission, launched on April 1, 2026, attracted approximately 346,000 U.S. visitors to Florida's Space Coast during the launch campaign, significantly exceeding the 226,000 visitors from the uncrewed Artemis 1 launch in November 2022, setting a new record for crewed launch tourism.
According to data from the Space Coast Office of Tourism, between March 29 and April 1 (the Artemis 2 launch campaign period), approximately 346,000 out-of-county U.S. visitors traveled to northern Brevard County on Florida's Atlantic coast, near Orlando. The figure is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Honolulu, Hawaii. The estimate was derived from cellular device-tracking software targeting U.S. adults residing outside the region and excludes international visitors, children, individuals without phones, phones turned off, and Brevard County residents.
The data showed that a typical Artemis 2 visitor spent two days on the Space Coast, generating an average spend of $462 per person. In comparison, the uncrewed Artemis 1 launch to lunar orbit in November 2022 drew approximately 226,000 visitors, while nine other major crewed launches in recent years—including SpaceX Dragon crew missions and Falcon Heavy liftoffs—averaged around 55,000 out-of-county visitors.
Artemis 2 carried four astronauts on a 10-day loop around the Moon: NASA's Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist), and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. It marked the first human mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, representing a historic milestone in human spaceflight.