It was only after moving east that it became almost impossible to find a real deep-dish pizza. Even in Connecticut, where we lived for years and had Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, a perennial “Best Pizza” (and not bad), my wife and I, there as here, have been looking for real, good deep dish without success.

I get that there are lots of New Yorkers around who like to fold their pizza slices in half. So be it. But if you are going to have a Best Pizza contest you have to take into account best “style” of pizza. A deep-dish slice is to a flatsie what a beef hamburger is to a plant burger. Both can be delicious, but they are not interchangeable. — Craig Donovan, Hollywood

A: Craig, I know what you mean, it’s all about the New Yorkers here! But as I began my search for Chicago-style pizza for you, I was surprised at the abundance of places that serve the doughy, cheesy pies you are craving. There are also several that dish up Detroit-style pizza, a deep-dish pie with an airy dough and perimeter of caramelized cheese, sauce on top.

These deep-dish pizzas are big, built to feed two to three people. The restaurants warn that they need at least a half-hour to prepare them. So call ahead or have a leisurely dinner, and bring along your New York friends; most of South Florida’s deep-dish joints also serve the “flatsies,” or thin slices, which as you say New Yorkers love to fold before they take a bite.

BROWARD COUNTY

Il Baretto Italian Cuisine, 220 S. University Drive, Plantation; 954-473-9400; ilbarettoristorante.com

A small stuffed deep-dish pie goes for $26; a large is $39. As a patron posted in “Let’s Eat, South Florida,” the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s foodie Facebook group: “People rave about Il Baretto and after just one pizza, I get it. It’s about as legit a deep dish as you can get … Our pizza was a Chicago Deep well done with sausage (hold the grated Parmigiana cheese). It weighed in at 8 lbs., 10 oz., just 5 ounces short of my son’s birth weight. This was a hefty delicious meal.”

Chicago Stuffed Pizza Co., 238 Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the Sea; 954-533-1808; chicagostuffedpizzamenu.com

This joint serves a deep-dish pie with an extra layer of dough on top. You can get it plain with cheese inside ($28.99) or with a variety of toppings and stuffings (the Special is loaded with sausage, onions, mushrooms and green peppers; $40.95). If you’re with some New Yorkers, this joint will sell them the pizza they like; a basic NY Cheese Pizza is priced at $17.99.

Emmy Squared, 468 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale; 754-296-0076; emmysquaredpizza.com

Emmy’s offers create-your-own Detroit-style pizzas ($14 for a six-slice pie, $23 for 10 slices). There are also vegan and gluten-free pies, as well as signature pizzas such as the Birria ($19 or $26) and the Big Hawaiian, with pepperoni, bacon and pineapple ($19 or $25). The shop, part of a chain with stores around the country, also serves burgers, salads and sandwiches. South Florida also has a location in Coral Gables.

Sarpino’s Pizzeria, multiple locations; gosarpinos.com

Sarpino’s recommends its deep-dish varieties for those who are “looking for something thicker, without compromising on delicious crunchability.” Pies include the Sausage ($18.99) and the Vegan ($18.99). Warning: The Fort Lauderdale location is crazy-busy on weekend nights.

Capone’s Italian Pizzeria, 3775 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; 954-986-9192; caponesitalianpizzeria.com

This place shows its love of Chicago not only through deep-dish pizza but with its “Chicago Hit List” of items such as Chicago roast beef ($16.68) and Chicago Dog (on a bun with peppers, onions, tomato slices, pickles and relish; $8.63). Capone’s is known among locals, though, for its deep-dish pies ($20.13). Here’s what one foodie said on “Let’s Eat, South Florida“: “Capone’s on Hollywood Blvd. has the best deep-dish pizza. It is worth the drive from Pompano every time. Helpful hint … we order ahead to eat here, it takes an hour to bake.”

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Danny’s Pizza Kitchen, 3501 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach; 561-200-0739; dannyspizzakitchen.com

The basic Cheese deep dish goes for $19.95; carnivores will enjoy the Meat Lovers, with pepperoni, ham, bacon, sausage and meatball ($27.50). There’s also a Buffalo Chicken for $26.95. New York traditionalists searching for a single triangular slice can get one here for $3.50.

Giovanni’s Pizza, 21401 Powerline Road, Boca Raton; 561-483-7900; giovannispizzaofboca.com

Giovanni’s has 10 deep-dish varieties, including the Supreme (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers and black olives; $36.08) and the Veggie (mushrooms, green peppers and onions; $31.81). There are also New York-style pizzas, salads, subs and pastas.

Death by Pizza, 528 NE Second St., Delray Beach; 561-666-9111; deathbypizzadelray.com

Here you will find Detroit-style pizzas that serve two to three people, with more than a dozen varieties. Try the Mr. White (ricotta, mozzarella and basil pesto; $26), Eggplant Parm ($30) or Gandolfini (sausage, roasted red peppers and garlic, caramelized onions, broccoli, mozzarella, sweet sauce and basil pesto; $30).

Motor City Pizza & Coney, 1538 SW Eighth St., Boynton Beach; 561-736-3000; motorcitypizzaconey.com

The dough blend of owner Bisar Gorani, imported from his native Kosovo, relays a deep crunch, and he uses whole-milk cheese instead of the usual Detroit-style brick cheese from Wisconsin. “It’s my recipe,” Gorani told Sun Sentinel back in 2021. “I wanted to use bread from Kosovo because it reminds me of home. Which is funny because Detroiters tell me this pizza reminds them of home, too.” A deep-dish pizza is $18.

Both counties

Jet’s Pizza, multiple locations; jetspizza.com

Jet’s is a chain that began in 1978 and is known for its Detroit-style pizza. According to Casey Kolp, owner of the Boca Raton and Royal Palm Beach shops: “We make our own dough fresh every morning and use only the finest Grande cheese without additives or fillers.” A large pizza with pepperoni goes for $18.48.

Republican Jeffrey Buongiorno subscribes to the fantasy that millions of immigrants are surging into the country illegally to vote Kamala Harris into the Oval Office. “Avoid a civil war by filing a civil complaint against the treasonous traitors who are conspiring to offset your vote,” he urged in a message on X.

There was a time when such conspiracy-wielding candidates were laughed off as unelectable. No more. After all, millions of Floridians will cast ballots for the biggest election conspiracy theorist of them all in November.

In 2020, there was just one election conspiracy. Now there are dozens, and across the state, election conspiracy theorists like Buongiorno are on the ballot or jostling to influence whose vote counts.

Take Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, who’s in charge of Florida elections.

Just as Mrs. Samuel Alito’s flags suggested what kind of political talk took place behind closed doors, Byrd’s wife Esther’s post-Jan. 6 Facebook posts warn of “coming civil wars.”

“There are only 2 teams,” she wrote. “With Us [or] Against Us.”

Conspiracy theories

A figure of speech, Cord Byrd said when asked about the posts, before he bowed to another conspiracy theory and withdrew the state from a multi-state compact ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls. The Electronic Information Registration Center (ERIC), can find voter fraud. But someone floated a George Soros conspiracy, Donald Trump chimed in, and Florida was left without a one-of-a-kind tool to find duplicate voter registrations.

Then there’s Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Because nothing says election integrity like pressuring another state to ditch its votes, Moody joined 16 other states petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to jettison ballots in four swing states in 2020. It took all of 48 hours for the court to turn away the poor-loser arguments. Moody’s own lawyers had already derided the case as “bat-s–t insane” and, in an especially prescient description, “weird.”

The same adjective equally applies to Buongiorno’s 36-page lawsuit. He hints that House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced an election bill in part because of Buongiorno’s analysis, alleges a Haitian couple once guaranteed him a congressional primary win for $85,000, and says a new local voting tabulation center “defies the will of the people.”

Assigned to a Trump judge

Buongiorno’s fact-free claim of mass non-citizen voting has traction from Mar-a-Lago on down. Nor can you shrug off the suit. The judge assigned to his case is Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee known for her novel legal decisions.

Further, Buongiorno is just one of several conspiracy-minded supervisor of election candidates who hope to oversee Florida votes, the Tampa Bay Times found. In Charlotte County, David Kalin told reporters his radio frequency analyzer proved 99.9% of Florida’s ballot machines are connected to a modem. Lake County GOP candidate Tom Vail’s website declares that “Easy to Vote Means Easy to Cheat.”

Then there’s EagleAI, a software system backed by Cleta Mitchell, best known for being on the call when then-President Trump asked Georgia’s Secretary of State to find another 11,780 votes.

In May, EagleAI dumped the names of 10,000 Florida voters on Cord Byrd’s doorstep, alleging they might be illegally registered.

Such name dumps are cutting-edge voter suppression. A voter can only hope that their registration is not being challenged, and if it is, that underfunded and overworked supervisors of elections get around to combing through all 10,000 names before election day.

It’s the sort of thing ERIC would have accomplished, only with access to confidential detail that can distinguish between glitches and actual problems, such as a part-time Floridian registered in two states.

Solving actual problems is not the end goal of conspiracy theorists, though. Keeping people from voting is. Vail, for instance, believes that not everyone should be encouraged to register, the Orlando Sentinel reports. And one of Cord Byrd’s complaints about ERIC was its requirement that states send postcards urging people to register to vote. Floridians apparently don’t need extra nudges to participate in democracy, because the state is doing just fine, he said.

There really is an election fraud being perpetrated in Florida, one that voters need to pay attention to: It’s the clickbait fiction that the machinery of democracy is hopelessly rigged and is fixable only by limiting access to the ballot box. Plenty of people are lining up to do just that — if we let them.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

The temporary injunction, from U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, is one of the most significant legal rulings to follow the spread of pro-Palestinian encampments, which protesters organized on campuses across the country last spring. It comes in response to a handful of Jewish students suing UCLA, alleging that they were briefly barred from entering a campus space that had been occupied this spring by people protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

In his comments, the judge wrote that he was appalled at the state of campus affairs for Jewish students.

“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote.

“This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” he added, with emphasis.

UCLA’s encampments attracted particular scrutiny in April after campus police failed to promptly intervene when protesters erected physical barricades on campus, preventing pro-Israel students from crossing. School security instead instructed Jewish students to avoid the encampments. Pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the encampment soon afterward, leading to violent clashes and arrests and to Congressional testimony from the school’s Jewish outgoing chancellor, Gene Block.

The judge said the fact that a public university’s staff was aiding any behavior that excluded Jewish students, instead of stopping it, violated the First Amendment. Without specifying what steps UCLA should take to rectify the problem, he said the school needs to ensure that all campus locations and activities are open to all students.

The ruling was praised by Jewish plaintiff Yitzchok Frankel, a rising third-year UCLA law student, and by Becket, a law firm specializing in religious liberty that sued the school on Frankel’s behalf.

“I am grateful that the court has ordered UCLA to put a stop to this shameful anti-Jewish conduct,” Frankel said in a press release. Attorney Mark Rienzi said in the release, “Today’s ruling says that UCLA’s policy of helping antisemitic activists target Jews is not just morally wrong but a gross constitutional violation.”

A spokesperson for UCLA criticized the ruling to the Los Angeles Times, saying it would “improperly hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground.” They added that the school is “considering all options moving forward”; the university had previously indicated it could appeal. UCLA’s fall semester for law students begins this month.

Lawyers for the university had argued during a hearing that UCLA wasn’t at fault for the protesters’ behavior, and that the school had sought to non-violently de-escalate the encampments without involving police. Campus police instead took a strategy of enforcing “neutral zones” once the encampments formed, as a way of preventing altercations, the attorneys said. Other schools had faced criticism from some corners for sending in law enforcement to immediately break up encampments and make arrests.

The injunction is “a significant decision, one that has legal consequences,” Michael Helfand, a professor of law and religion at Pepperdine University’s law school and a legal advisor for education matters with the Orthodox Union, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

He noted that, unlike many of the most prominent schools that have dealt with encampments, UCLA is a public university and subject to the First Amendment — including the right to free religious expression. Pro-Palestinian protesters at some other public universities, including Portland State University and Cal Poly Humboldt, took over school buildings and similarly prevented others on campus from accessing them.

As more universities are facing — and settling — lawsuits from Jewish students over their handling of the encampments, Helfand said the UCLA case could have “spillover effects” even at private schools like Harvard (where a judge ruled last week that a lawsuit alleging it failed to protect Jewish students can go to trial).

“The opinion is written in a way that really lays down the gauntlet,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be a university that says, ‘I’m not abiding by what the judge in the UCLA case said.’”

Scarsi also wrote that he accepted the Jewish students’ claim that “supporting the state of Israel is their sincerely held religious belief,” negating one of the key arguments pro-Palestinian groups have made in favor of the encampments — that protesting the state of Israel is not the same as targeting Jews. Many encampments, including at UCLA, have included anti-Zionist Jews. Helfand said the judge’s views on the question were significant as well.

“It doesn’t matter if there are Jewish students in the encampment or if there are other people who don’t believe these things,” he said. “The only question is, what do the plaintiffs believe?”

Earlier this summer UCLA announced it was appointing Julio Frenk, a descendant of Jewish immigrants who fled to Mexico in the 1930s, as its next permanent chancellor. Frenk, currently president of the University of Miami, was previously a Harvard dean.

To read more content visit www.jta.org

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have arrested at least one person in connection with Matthew Perry’s death from an accidental ketamine overdose last year, a law enforcement official tells The Associated Press.

The official was not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Authorities have scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles to announce details in the case later Thursday morning.

Los Angeles police said in May that they were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe into why the 54-year-old had so much of the surgical anesthetic in his system.

An assistant found Perry face down in his hot tub on Oct. 28, and paramedics who were called immediately declared him dead.

His autopsy, released in December, found that the amount of ketamine in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

The decades-old drug has seen a huge surge in use in recent years as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. People close to Perry told coroner’s investigators that he was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy.

But the medical examiner said Perry’s last treatment 1 1/2 weeks earlier wouldn’t explain the levels of ketamine in his blood. The drug is typically metabolized in a matter of hours. At least two doctors were treating Perry, a psychiatrist and an anesthesiologist who served as his primary care physician, the medical examiner’s report said. No illicit drugs or paraphernalia were found at his house.

Ketamine was listed as the primary cause of death, which was ruled an accident with no foul play suspected, the report said. Drowning and other medical issues were contributing factors, the coroner said.

Perry had years of struggles with addiction dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest television stars of his generation as Chandler Bing alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit sitcom.

___

Balsamo reported from New York.

When I first ran for public office, I went door-to-door and told voters my number one priority was to make health care a right, not a privilege. That’s why my proudest moment in public service was the vote I cast for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which enabled tens of millions of Americans to get their health security.

And two years ago this Friday, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, which vastly expanded on that victory by lowering prescription drug costs, expanding ACA access, and making coverage more affordable.

Thanks to the new law, over 200,000 people in my district alone will buy ACA marketplace policies this year, a 104% increase from 2020. Four million Floridians will use the ACA, with average enrollees saving hundreds in premiums.

But in another critical way, this legislation is game-changing. After generations of failed efforts, the Inflation Reduction Act finally empowered Medicare to negotiate lower costs for some of the priciest prescription medications, including those that treat diabetes, heart failure and autoimmune disorders. Out-of-pocket Medicare savings to seniors will reach $1.6 billion in 2026, and taxpayers will save $6 billion, administration officials announced Thursday.

That’s not all. The law also caps monthly Medicare insulin costs for seniors at $35, provides free recommended vaccines, like for shingles, and ensures drug companies face penalties if prices climb faster than inflation. Also, starting next year, seniors will see their annual out-of-pocket drug costs capped at $2,000, bringing more financial relief to millions.

For too long, Floridians faced impossible choices, between paying for medicine or groceries. Now, because of this administration’s leadership, our families can breathe a little easier when it comes to health care costs.

This progress didn’t come without a fight. Republicans relentlessly attempted to repeal the ACA, and they will not stop trying to take it all away.

President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Democrats in Congress like me took on Big Pharma and we won. Now, we must fiercely defend these gains and continue our progress.

These achievements face real threats, as clearly laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint, the playbook for a dangerous second Trump presidency.

Project 2025 would dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act and take Floridians and millions of Americans back to when health care costs were skyrocketing and millions were denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Republicans like Sen. Rick Scott voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and he’s coming after Medicare as well.

If that Trump-Scott agenda wins this fall, here’s what it means to you: higher prescription drug prices, soaring premiums and a return to the days when health care was a privilege for only the few.

If Project 2025 becomes reality, 45 million Americans could lose their coverage. Nearly 20 million would see premiums rise. Seniors on Medicare would see an exponential rise in prescription drug costs, while Big Pharma and insurance companies make unseemly profits — and all so Republicans can give billionaires more tax breaks.

But there’s another way. Vice President Harris and my fellow Democrats will build on our progress and ensure everyone can access the care they need.

As your representative, I will not stand by as Republicans try to rip away the health care my fellow Floridians and millions of Americans rely on, and I’m asking you to join me in that fight.

Let’s make sure that come November, we stand united, protect our health care, and continue moving forward. We are not going back.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz represents Florida’s 25th Congressional District. 

But McDaniel, who spoke Thursday morning before the joint practice against Washington, said the team will decide Thursday afternoon which starters will play and how much they’ll play.

McDaniel said “guys who are starters,” without naming names, “will get some action” in the game and “we’ll take it from there.”

In other words, the Dolphins don’t have an established plan for playing time for anybody, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Among the top starters whose playing time will be watched, aside from Tagovailoa, are left tackle Terron Armstead, edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, defensive lineman Calais Campbell, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, running back Raheem Mostert and rookie edge rusher Chop Robinson.

Phillips was recently activated from the physically unable to perform list due to an Achilles injury and Armstead, Campbell, Hill and Phillips have had their practice participation measured, and Robinson, the first-round pick, was held out of last week’s game while battling a minor injury.

Robinson, one of the stars of training camp, participated in Wednesday’s practice and performed well.

No setback for Chubb

McDaniel said there’s been no setback for edge rusher Bradley Chubb, who is recovering from a season-ending knee injury sustained in December.

Chubb, who had a team-best 11.0 sacks last season, hasn’t yet participated in training camp practices.

However, McDaniel said Chubb has been progressing well.

There’s no timetable for Chubb’s return. Chubb was seen doing rehabilitation work before practice Thursday.

Thursday’s practice plan

 McDaniel said the practice plan for Thursday’s joint practice against Washington, for the most part, calls for matching starters vs. starters and primary backups vs. primary backups.

That means Robinson might go against starters for an extended period for the first time.

The backup QB battle

McDaniel said he splits playing time between backup quarterbacks Mike White and Skylar Thompson based on a few factors instead of simply alternating days that each works with the second team.

The backup quarterback race between White, last year’s backup, and Thompson, last year’s No. 3, has been watched closely during training camp. McDaniel said the battle is “neck and neck.”

Anecdotally, Thompson has probably had more snaps with the second team during recent practices. Thompson also started last week’s preseason opener against Atlanta.

McDaniel said the process of sorting out who wins the No. 2 job remains the same.

“We allow the players to tell us who two and three are, just like the rest of our players,” he said.

McDaniel said it’ll become apparent who deserves the No. 2 job by their performance.

McDaniel said there are a lot of complicating variables to deciding who gets the No. 2 job, such as whether each quarterback gets to play with top personnel and how players respond to each quarterback. 

White mentioned that after the Atlanta game, saying his goal was keeping everybody calm in the huddle because some guys were rookies who were playing for the first time, and others might be veterans who were stressing whether they’ll make the 53-man roster.

So although the starters are scheduled to play Saturday against Washington, one thing to look for when White and Thompson are on the field is who they’re surrounded by, and how those guys respond to that quarterback.

Reefs and trails await underwater explorers just beneath the surface of the ocean’s warm, blue waters off the shoreline in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Need an escape from the daily stresses of life? Grab a snorkel and mask, wade into the surf and submerge yourself in a world in which the only traffic you’ll encounter is a vibrant school of fish swimming by, or a graceful sea turtle crossing your path.

Of course, before you dive in, there are several things to figure out: the right location for your skill level, the necessary equipment, access points, cost, safety factors, and parking and other amenities.

We’ve taken all of this into account when compiling our list of must-snorkel spots that are easily accessible right from the beach — no boat required — and are either free or, in some cases, involve only parking or park fees.

SAFETY FIRST

Before anything else, let’s talk safety. Here are some important tips for snorkelers, courtesy of the Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation department’s website:

• Know your personal swimming limitations and snorkeling abilities.
• Always snorkel with a buddy so you can share your experiences and have somebody to help if needed.
• Check the ocean conditions, including waves, currents, wind, water visibility and weather.
• Decide on entry and exit points.
• Keep in mind that the best time to snorkel is within two hours before or after high tide.

“If unsure of skills, stay within lifeguarded areas,” Fine said. “Look but don’t touch is the slogan to follow with snorkeling, and keep feet and hands off coral and marine life.”

EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST

Next, we asked marine biologist and Master Scuba Instructor John Christopher Fine — who calls Boynton Beach home when he’s not traveling around the world exploring shipwrecks and studying ocean pollution — about the equipment first-time snorkelers need before heading out into the water.

He said to start with the basics: a mask, snorkel and pair of fins (or swim shoes). Also, “wear a dive skin or nylon tights and top to protect from sun as well as stings,” he added. “Skins are inexpensive online, last a long time and are far less expensive than coral-killing sunscreens.”

A dive flag and float are required for safety and to comply with Florida law, he said.

“For beginners, I suggest a car inner tube on a yellow (polypropylene) line with a weight at the end, so the line can be dropped and the tube not float away,” he said, adding that a dive flag can be tied to it or secured with a special device.

“A tube is great to rest, holding on to it,” but it should be made of strong materials, not a typical pool float.

PLACES TO SNORKEL

Ready to jump in? We’ve gathered six snorkeling spots where you can meet marine life and experience the serenity of the sea.

And if you want a snorkeling sneak peek beforehand, just search YouTube.com for underwater videos by divers and snorkelers featuring the locations on our list below.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Phil Foster Memorial Park Snorkel Trail 
900 E. Blue Heron Blvd., Riviera Beach

HOURS: Sunrise to sunset

PARKING: Free

INFORMATION: discover.pbcgov.org/parks

An underwater paradise awaits snorkelers of all levels on the south side of the Blue Heron Bridge, just beyond a guarded swimming area. Venture out about 200 feet to explore submerged structures and shark sculptures while keeping an eye out for some of the trail’s residents, including squid, octopuses, spotted rays and starfish. Six hundred tons of rock were used to build the artificial reef, made of limestone boulders and prefabricated reef modules that span 2 acres in 6 to 10 feet of water, according to the county. Need to take a break? Cool off in the shade on the beach under the bridge. To the south, you’ll see Peanut Island, another popular snorkeling location accessible by boat or ferry.

Ocean Inlet Park/Lofthus shipwreck
6990 N. Ocean Blvd., Boynton Beach

HOURS: Sunrise to sunset

PARKING: Free

INFORMATION: discover.pbcgov.org

Whether you park and walk across Ocean Boulevard or under the road by the jetty, when you see the shoreline rocks along the guarded beach on the south side of the inlet, you’ve found the entry point to another popular snorkeling spot. Suit up with your equipment and wade into the ocean. Sea turtles, nurse sharks, reef fish and corals have all been spotted in the waters. For intermediate to advanced snorkelers who swim beyond the guarded area, be aware of boat traffic.

For those looking for a challenge, the Lofthus shipwreck is 1.1 miles north of the inlet, about 150 yards offshore in about 10 to 18 feet of water, Fine said. Park at Ocean Inlet Park and make the trek along the beach before the high-tide mark. He has seen guitar fish, a nurse shark and spiny lobsters hanging around the wreckage.

“Watch the weather. When the ocean is rough, waves break in shore and the shipwreck remains are not safe to dive,” he said. “Calm ocean and little wind make it a fun place to explore.”

Red Reef Park Snorkel Trail 
1400 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton

HOURS: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

PARKING: $35 on weekdays and $50 on weekends/holidays (day pass); $3 per hour at metered lot across State Road A1A

INFORMATION: myboca.us

Twenty artificial reefs just offshore and a jetty that extends from the beach into the water make up the snorkel trail. Walk directly into the ocean from the guarded beach and be on the lookout for sergeant major, parrotfish, bar jack and spottail pinfish. Snorkelers also have reported seeing a small reef shark, eels, lobsters, crabs, stingrays, barracuda and a sea turtle on their adventures.

Fourteen of the reefs were installed in late 2021, which extended the snorkeling trail. They are constructed from native limestone boulders sourced from a quarry near Fort Pierce, according to the city.

“Creating an artificial-reef snorkel trail offers residents and visitors another unparalleled outdoor experience in the city,” said recreation services director Greg Stevens. “This unique attraction not only provides a stunning adventure for snorkelers but also fosters a thriving and sustainable habitat for local marine life.”

It’s the ideal location for children to learn to snorkel and get up close with ocean life as well.

“I was able to view beautiful sea life such as turtles, colorful and bigger fish,” said 12-year-old Boca Raton resident Shea Ferris, who snorkels there. “It’s a safe and peaceful place for them, and I was able to enjoy everything around me.”

BROWARD COUNTY

Shipwreck Snorkel Trail
Datura Avenue and El Mar Drive, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

HOURS: Sunrise to sunset

PARKING: Metered parking on side streets or at South Ocean Lot, 4324 State Road A1A

INFORMATION: discoverlbts.com/diving-snorkeling

Just south of Anglin’s Fishing Pier, one of Broward County’s most popular dive and snorkeling areas provides a trail in 10 feet of water and three coral reefs just off the beach.

“Recognized as ‘Florida’s Beach Diving Capital,’ Lauderdale-by-the-Sea’s quaint Florida town is teeming with beautiful marine life in the calm, clear waters less than 100 yards off the white sand beaches, making it one of the best beaches in Florida to go snorkeling or diving with the little ones,” said town spokeswoman Aimee Adler Cooke. “The whole family can enjoy snorkeling, diving, kayaking and paddleboarding right off the beach.”

She said the town is a designated Blue Wave beach, a distinction given by the Clean Beaches Coalition to clean and environmentally responsible beach communities.

The Shipwreck Snorkel Trail, which includes an anchor, five concrete cannons and a ballast pile, was dedicated in 2002 by explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau (Jacques Cousteau’s son), according to the town.

The waters also are home to the SS Copenhagen, a British shipwreck in a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve, that is reachable by boat.

Vista Park Reef
2851 N. Atlantic Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

HOURS: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

PARKING: Metered parking lot open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

INFORMATION: parks.fortlauderdale.gov

Just steps from the parking lot at Vista Park, a hidden gem among snorkeling enthusiasts is bustling beneath the blue ocean waters. The reef line starts about 300 feet out from shore and extends past the buoys. The area is the midway point of the reef that runs north and south. More advanced snorkelers can head out to the deeper depths of the reef. What will you see? Hard and soft corals, tropical fish and sea fans. Go early when water clarity is at its best.

Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park/Erojacks
6503 N. Ocean Drive, Dania Beach

HOURS: 8 a.m. to sunset

ADMISSION: $6 per vehicle (up to eight people); $4 for a single-occupant vehicle or motorcycle; $2 for pedestrians, bicyclists, extra passengers, passengers in vehicle with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Pass

INFORMATION: floridastateparks.org/mizell

There are various places to snorkel along the 2.5 miles of beach in the park, but one of the unique areas is the Dania Beach Erojacks, an artificial reef that runs east to west made up of concrete jacks structures. To find it, park by the Whiskey Creek Hideout, walk across the bridge and to the right, follow the service trail signs in the sand heading south. You will enter the beach area at the spot where the reef is less than 600 feet offshore. The Dania Beach Pier is visible just to the south. Put your dive flag out and look for eels, fish, coral, slipper and spiny lobsters, stingrays, puffer fish and starfish. Keep in mind that the northern end of the state park, including the jetty parking lot, Jetty Pier and beach access, is closed to the public for construction.

Voters in Tuesday’s Democratic primary are the ones who will likely decide whether a changing of the guard at the Broward Sheriff’s Office is necessary, or a second full term for Tony is warranted. The Republican Party did not put up a candidate for November, leaving an independent candidate, BSO retiree Charles Whatley, as the lone challenger for the November general election..

The Sheriff’s Office is a far-flung enterprise that employs about 5,500 law enforcement, fire department and medical services personnel. It contracts public safety services to a dozen of Broward’s 31 towns and cities. It provides protection and security for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, county courthouses and Port Everglades, the massive seaport. It also operates a forensics unit and real-time crime center that received a $1.5 federal million grant this year.

Challenging the incumbent are:

• Steven “Steve” Geller served 28 years with Plantation Police as a patrol officer, school resource officer, major case detective and captain, supervising internal affairs and other units. After retiring in 2018, he joined the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, where he was involved in use-of-force investigations of local police officers. Geller, 55, holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in criminal justice from the State University of New York, Albany, and a master’s in public administration from Florida Atlantic University. (Geller is not to be confused with long-time County Commissioner Steve Geller, who is also a former state legislator.)
• David Howard is a West Palm Beach police retiree who most recently served as Pembroke Park’s police chief for nearly three years after starting the department from scratch. He served nearly three decades in West Palm Beach, retiring as a watch commander. A U.S. Air Force retiree with 30 years of active and reserve service, he spent a year as a first officer with Silver Airways, the South Florida-based regional airline.
• Alvin Pollock is a retired BSO colonel who served in a variety of capacities through 40 years with the office, finishing his career as third in command. He oversaw the Department of Law Enforcement and all patrol support services and was a watch commander overseeing patrol functions and operations. As courthouse commander, he was responsible for security and operations within the county’s  courthouses. He also served as a road patrol sergeant who supervised deputies, as a detective with the organized crime task force, and as a deputy sheriff.

Rollercoaster term

To say that Tony is vulnerable to a challenge is an understatement. Appointed as the county’s top law enforcement officer by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019 to replace Scott Israel, who was removed from office, the sheriff has been on a rollercoaster ride this year.

Tony has taken a variety of hits for cost overruns during the building of a new $74 million training center, complaints from client cities that they’re being charged too much, and criticism for 21 jail deaths over four years and episodes involving two pregnant women who gave birth while incarcerated.

Nearly a year ago, the agency was rocked by the crash of an aging fire rescue helicopter that took the lives of its pilot and a civilian on the ground in Pompano Beach. A public argument ensued between the sheriff and county commissioners over maintenance and the pace and funding of fleet modernization.

Earlier this summer, Tony pitched Broward County commissioners a 2024-25 fiscal year budget of $1.53 billion, a 48% increase. The request for the agency’s first billion dollar-plus budget was roundly panned by commissioners, who pointed out that such an outlay would trigger a 33% increase in property taxes.

Tony argued he needs more money to hire more people to guard and operate the county’s detention centers, patrol roads, and provide security at the burgeoning international airport from a new substation. He also argued that higher pay is needed to retain and recruit staff and keep his office competitive with other agencies that are in pursuit of the same law enforcement talent.

“Broward County’s population has increased almost 13% since 2010 and is estimated to grow to over 2 million by 2030,” he wrote in his formal budget request. “This unprecedented growth has increased the need for better tools and increased personnel to provide public safety services.”

The final word on the budget will come in September.

This past spring, an administrative law judge recommended that the sheriff should receive a written reprimand and be required to undergo ethics training after concluding that Tony violated state law by failing to disclose in 2019 that his driver’s license had previously been suspended. Judge Robert L. Kilbride also said Tony should be placed on “probationary status” for 18 months.

A hearing on the recommendations scheduled for Thursday by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, an arm of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, has been postponed, according to a public agenda reviewed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Critiques

Given the opportunity, the three challengers served up a variety of critiques when asked in a Sun Sentinel candidates’ questionnaire to evaluate Tony’s first term. The sheriff declined to engage in the exercise.

“Sheriff Gregory Tony’s tenure as the head of the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) has been fraught with controversy and allegations of deception,” Geller said. “From the very beginning, Tony has been under intense scrutiny due to a lack of transparency. There are serious concerns about his integrity, particularly in relation to his failure to disclose critical information about his past, including an incident during his adolescence where he shot and killed a man. This information was not revealed during his appointment process, despite specific questions about any past arrests.

“What sets me apart as the best candidate is my unwavering commitment to honesty, integrity and ethical standards,” Geller said, adding that he has “maintained an impeccable record throughout my career.“ He said he never has faced termination, “been asked to resign, or faced any disciplinary action.”

Pollock, the retired colonel, took a sharp pencil to Tony’s public safety track record, which he said “has been marked by significant controversy and disapproval both organizationally and county-wide. It is not my assessment but the public’s assessment that is important.

“The public is clearly unsatisfied with public safety provided by BSO. Recently, Lauderdale Lakes and Pompano Beach called on Tony numerous times for a meeting regarding increasing violent crime,” Pollock wrote. “Tony’s response, he didn’t want to ‘over police’ the community. The public is being underserved and only gets lip service after pleading with BSO for help.”

He also took note of the deaths in Broward’s jails, as well as the women giving birth while incarcerated, which he called “completely unacceptable.”

“Public safety is compromised under Tony’s direction due to his top-heavy command structure, ineffective leadership, lack of accountability, and mishandling of BSO’s budget,” he added.

Howard said he would offer a “responsible and balanced budget proposal” for public safety needs that would not place “an undue financial burden on residents.”

He listed violent crime, gang activity, and staffing shortages in corrections as priorities, and said he’d conduct a “thorough review of existing programs and initiatives.” and develop a “multi-year” strategic spending plan.

“I would identify and eliminate any redundancies or inefficiencies to free up funds for more pressing needs,” he wrote.

Strong support for the incumbent

Despite the challengers’ efforts, Tony commands a level of support that appears to collectively outstrip the dollars and other backing garnered by his opponents.

State campaign records show Tony’s  Broward First PAC, which was formed several years ago, had collected more than $2.6 million through the most recent reporting period. It’s received contributions from large law firms, wealth managers, entrepreneurs, as well as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which gave $30,000 last spring.  The money in his campaign fund also exceeds his opponents’ funds.

Endorsements have arrived from large groups such as the Broward County AFL-CIO and The Hispanic Vote PAC. An endorsement from the Dolphin Democrats, though, went to Geller.

“To be honest with you he is very articulate; he came across with a lot of passion,” said Andy Madtes, president of the umbrella labor union group. “I don’t have any skin in the game here. He came across as someone who really wants to change the trajectory of the agency.”

Sheriff uses image of VP Harris in mailer to Democratic primary voters, funded partly by Republican DeSantis allies

Madtes said the AFL-CIO screening and endorsement process normally involves member unions casting votes. But for the sheriff’s race, Madtes said, “we deferred to the unions that work directly with the sheriff’s office because they have more of an interaction.”

“It just turned out the unions … feel he’s trying to look out for the workers,” he added. “They think he’s done a decent job.”

Tony has picked his spots when discussing issues publicly. He declined to participate in candidate interviews with the Sun Sentinel editorial board  (which endorsed Geller) as well as a forum hosted by the Broward League of Women Voters.

Besides the visit with the Broward AFL-CIO, he also spoke with Hispanic Vote.

Eric Johnson, one of Tony’s campaign consultants, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that his client prefers not to discuss flashpoints such as the budget request and the driver’s license case.

“We’ve kept the campaign very positive on his record for public safety and emergency response,” Johnson said.

“Crime is down in Broward County,” he added. “Emergency response times are faster. And ultimately next Tuesday the voters will make a determination on his record as sheriff, and we are confident he will have an overwhelming victory.”

Check back for the latest information on upcoming launches.

By The Numbers:

2024: 58 Space Coast launches in 2024 (updated Aug. 15) | 42 from Cape Canaveral, 16 from KSC | 54 from SpaceX (53 Falcon 9s, 1 Falcon Heavy), 4 from ULA (1 Vulcan, 1 Delta IV Heavy, 2 Atlas V) | 3 human spaceflights (Axiom Space Ax-3, SpaceX Crew-8, Boeing Crew Flight Test)

2023: 72 Space Coast launches in 2023 | 59 from Cape Canaveral, 13 from KSC | 68 from SpaceX (63 Falcon 9s, 5 Falcon Heavy), 3 from United Launch Alliance (1 Delta IV Heavy, 2 Atlas V), 1 from Relativity Space | 3 human spaceflights (Crew-6, Ax-2, Crew-7)

Details on past launches can be found at the end of file.

AUGUST

Aug. 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Maxar 2 mission flying two of Maxar Techologies’ WorldView Legion Earth-observation satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 lifting off at 9 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 16th time with a recovery at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. This was the 199th Falcon 9 launch from SLC-40. Read more.

Aug. 26: (Delayed from July 31, summer 2023): Polaris Dawn mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with the Crew Dragon Resilience from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A targeting 3:38 a.m. liftoff during 3:33-7:15 a.m. launch window. The private orbital mission will bring billionaire Jared Isaacman to space for a second time after 2021′s Inspiration4 mission. It’s the first of up to three planned Polaris missions, and will feature a tethered spacewalk. Also flying are Scott Poteet, given the title of mission pilot, specialist Sarah Gillis, and specialist and medical officer Anna Menon. Both Gillis and Menon are SpaceX employees. Read more.

SEPTEMBER

TBD, ULA targeting early September: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on the Cert-2 mission. Originally supposed to fly Sierra Space Dream Chaser test flight, but payload switched to an inert mass simulator because of potential Dream Chaser delays beyond September. Launch will be from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Read more.

No earlier than Sept. 24: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Crew-9 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Crew is NASA astronauts Zena Cardman making her first flight and the 10th of 11 members of the Turtles to fly to space; pilot Nick Hague making his third flight including one mission abort from Russia, mission specialist Stephanie Wilson, who flew three times on Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-121, STS-120, and STS-131 logging 42 days in space, and Roscomos cosmonaut and mission specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov, making his first trip to space. This will be the fourth flight of Crew Dragon Freedom. It’s also the first flight for an active Space Force astronaut, Hague. It will also be the first human spaceflight from SLC-40 as KSC’s pad will be in preparation for the Europa Clipper launch in October.

OCTOBER

TBD October: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the CRS-31 mission flying up a Cargo Dragon with supplies to the International Space Station. Launch pad TBD.

October 10: SpaceX Falcon Heavy on the Europa Clipper mission to travel 1.8 billion miles to investigate Jupiter’s moon Europa to determine whether there are places below Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life. The mission’s detailed investigation of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

NOVEMBER

No earlier than November: Axiom Space was awarded the right to fly Axiom-4. No crew has been announced, but NASA requires it to be commanded by a former NASA astronaut with experience on the space station such as the Ax-1, Ax-2 and Ax-3 commanders. The commercial flight brings four crew for a short stay on the ISS. This mission is targeting a 14-day stay, and will fly up with one of the SpaceX Crew Dragons. The launch date is dependent on spacecraft traffic to the ISS and in-orbit activity planning and constraints that have to be coordinated with NASA.

DECEMBER

December 2024: Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with the company’s second Nova-C lander featuring NASA’s PRIME-1 drill, to land a drill and mass spectrometer near the south pole of the moon in order to demonstrate the feasibility of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and measure the volatile content of subsurface samples. Also flying is the Lunar Trailblazer, a mission selected under NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, a small satellite designed to provide an understanding of the form, abundance, and distribution of water on the moon, as well as the lunar water cycle.

UPCOMING: TBD IN 2024

TBD: First launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. On the Space Force manifest for September 2024, according to Space Force officials as of January 2024.

TBD: SpaceX Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon on the Fram2 private human spaceflight mission. It would be the first time humans have flown on a polar orbital mission. Named Fram2 in deference to the ship “Fram” built in Norway that helped explorers get to the Arctic and Antarctica. The crew includes Chun Wang of Malta, an entrepreneur who made a fortune in cryptocurrency and an avid adventurer. Along for the ride will be fellow adventurers Eric Philips of Australia, Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway and Rabea Rogge of Germany. Mikkelsen will take the role of mission commander and Philips the role of pilot. Read more.

TBD, 2nd half of 2024: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on USSF-106, the rocket’s first Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. Dependent on ULA completing both Certification 1 and Certification 2 flights. Payload is the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 headed to geostationary orbit. Built by L3Harris, it’s funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory and potential replacement technology for GPS.

TBD, 2nd half of 2024: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on USSF-87, the rocket’s second planned Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.

TBD: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on the first Sierra Space Dream Chaser flight to the International Space Station. Mission could slip into 2025 because ULA would need more Vulcan rocket hardware beyond Cert-2 and the two USSF missions that take priority over the Dream Chaser flight.

UPCOMING: TBD IN 2025

TBD, by end of 1st quarter 2024: United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur, the rocket’s third planned Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.

TBD, no earlier than February 2025: SpaceX Crew-10 mission on SpaceX Falcon 9. Took on the February rotation spot ahead of Starliner-1 because of modifications that will be needed for Starliner-1 based on the Crew Flight Test mission.

TBD, no earlier than August 2025: Boeing Starliner-1 on ULA Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 41. NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Mike Fincke will be commander and pilot, respectively. This Starliner previously flew on Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission.

September 2025: NASA Artemis II mission to send four crew on 10-day orbital mission to the moon from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B. Read more.

TBD 2025: SpaceX Falcon Heavy flying Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

UPCOMING: TBD IN 2026

September 2026: NASA Artemis III mission to send four crew on lunar landing mission to the moon from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B. Read more.

LAUNCHED IN 2024

Jan. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Ovzon 3 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:04 p.m. This was the first launch of 2024. The 3,968-pound Ovzon 3 satellite is the first privately funded and developed Swedish geostationary satellite ever to be launched, headed for a geostationary transfer orbit where it will then propel itself to its geostationary orbit over 3-4 months at 59.7 degrees east at 22,236 miles altitude. The first-stage booster flew for the 10th time with a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Jan. 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-35 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:35 p.m. The first-stage booster made its 16th flight having previously flown on two crewed and two cargo missions to the International Space Station among others. It managed its recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Jan. 8 (Delayed from May 4, Dec. 24-26): First-ever launch of United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur on Certification-1 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:18 a.m. Primary payload was commercial company Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander headed to the moon. Also flying will be another human remains payload for Celestis Inc., this time brining the ashes of more than 200 people to space including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and actor James Doohan who played “Scotty” on the TV series. Read more.

Jan. 14 (Delayed from Jan. 13): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-37 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 23 Starlink satellites at 8:52 p.m. The first-stage booster flew its 12th mission and with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. This was the fourth launch from the Space Coast in 2024. Read more.

Jan. 18 (Delayed from Jan. 17): SpaceX Falcon 9 with a Crew Dragon Freedom for Axiom Space’s Axiom-3 mission launched at 4:49 p.m. from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. The crew includes one astronaut each from Italy, Turkey and Sweden while the mission is led by Axiom’s chief astronaut Michael López-Alegría who is making his sixth trip to space. The customers are Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, who will act as pilot. In the two mission specialist roles are Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. All three have served in their respective nations’ air forces. The commercial flight brings four crew for a short stay on the ISS. This mission is targeting a 14-day stay with docking planned for Saturday at 5:15 a.m. The first-stage booster made a landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Jan. 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-38 mission with 23 Starlink satellites at 8:10 p.m. liftoff on a southerly trajectory from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A. The first-stage booster made its 18th flight, with past missions including the crewed flights of Inspiration4 and Ax-1, and had a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

Jan. 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 with Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft on the NG-20 mission to resupply the International Space Station at12:07 p.m.. This was the first ISS launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, which SpaceX has been redeveloping to support future crewed missions in addition to KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. This was the first of at least three SpaceX flights of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft as part of a deal after its 10-year run of launches atop Antares rockets ended with the Aug. 1 launch from Wallops Island, Virginia because of issues with Russian- and Ukrainian-made rocket engines and first stage parts that are being redeveloped with Firefly Aerospace for a future Antares rocket not expected until at least 2025. Following launch, the space station’s Canadarm2 will grapple Cygnus no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 1, and the spacecraft will attach to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading by the Expedition 70 crew. The first-stage booster made its 10th flight and returned for a touchdown at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Feb. 8 (Delayed from Feb. 6, 7): NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:33 a.m. PACE will advance the assessment of ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton, tiny plants and algae that sustain the marine food web, as well as clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. The first-stage booster flying for the fourth time made a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Feb. 14: A SpaceX Falcon 9 on the USSF-124 mission launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:30 p.m. Payloads included two satellites for the Missile Defense Agency to track hypersonic missiles and four more satellites for the Tranche 0 constellation for the Space Development Agency. The first-stage booster flew for the seventh time with a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 2. Read more.

Feb. 15 (Delayed from Nov. 14, Jan. 12, Feb. 14): SpaceX Falcon 9 for the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission with the company’s Nova-C lunar lander Odysseus from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 1:05 a.m. This could end up being the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission to land on the moon after the failure of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander. The IM-1 has a suite of six NASA payloads as part of a CLPS delivery and another six privately organized payloads. Landing would take place Feb. 22.Read more.

Feb. 20: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Merah Putih 2 mission, a communications satellite for Telkom Indonesia, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 at 3:11 p.m. into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. This was the 11th launch from the Space Coast in 2023 and 300th successful Falcon 9 launch since its debut in 2010, having only had one mid-launch failure in 2015. This was the 17th launch of the first stage booster, and it made a recovery landing downrange on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Feb. 25 (delayed from Feb. 24): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-39 mission sending up 24 Starlink satellites launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:06 p.m. This was the 12th launch from the Space Coast in 2024. The first-stage booster for the mission flew for the 13th time and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

Feb. 29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-40 mission with 23 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:30 a.m. This was the 13th launch from the Space Coast in 2024. The first-stage booster for the mission flew for the 11h time and made recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

March 3 (delayed from Feb. 22, 28, March 1, 2): SpaceX Crew-8 on Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A  at 10:53 p.m. Bad weather on the ascent corridor took the first three launch options on March 1 and 2 off the table. It’s the eighth SpaceX operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Its four crew members are NASA astronauts Commander Matthew Dominick, Pilot Michael Barratt, Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Alexander Grebenkin. They flew up in the Crew Dragon Endeavour making its fifth trip to space. The first-stage booster made its first flight. The mission had originally been targeting Feb. 22, but that was the target day for the Intuitive Machines attempt to land on the moon, and NASA chose to move the launch to “deconflict” NASA support operations that day. Read more.

March 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-41 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:56 p.m. The first stage booster flew for the 13th time and made a recovery landing on the droneship  A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

March 10: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-43 mission sent up 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:05 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 11th time with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 16th launch from the Space Coast in 2024. Read more.

March 15 (Delayed from March 13, 14): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-44 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 8:21 p.m. after scrubbing launches on both Wednesday and Thursday with about 2 minutes on the countdown clock. The booster flew for a record-tying 19th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

March 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the CRS-30 resupply mission with a Cargo Dragon to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:54 p.m. This was the first Dragon launch from SLC-40 since the addition of a crew access arm to support Dragon launches from more than one Space Coast pad and augment normal launches from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. The first-stage booster made a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

March 23 (delayed from March 22): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-42 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 11:09 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for 19th time.

March 25: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-46 mission sending up 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:42 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the eighth time and landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship.

March 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Eutelsat-36X mission from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:52 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 12th time with a landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This was 20th SpaceX launch from the Space Coast in 2024 and 21st among all companies. Read more.

March 30: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-45 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:30 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 18th time with a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

April 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-47 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:12 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 14th time landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. It was the 275th recovery of a Falcon 9 booster for SpaceX. Read more.

April 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the the Bandwagon-1 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 7:16 p.m, The first-stage booster flew for the 14th time and made a recovery landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. The 11 satellites on board are flying to a mid-inclination orbit. This is the first of a new type of rideshare program flying to that orbit that augments SpaceX’s Transporter program that flies to SSO. Read more.

April 9 (Delayed from March 28): United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy on the NROL-70 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 at 12:53 p.m. This was the final Delta IV Heavy rocket launch ever, and last of any Delta rocket, which has been flying for more than 60 years. The Space Force has one more launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket before future missions transition to ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur. Read more.

April 10: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-48 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:40 a.m. The first-stage booster made its second flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions.

April 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-49 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:40 p.m. The launch set a turnaround record for launches from SLC-40 at two days and 20 hours since the Aug. 10 launch. The previous record was Aug. 3-6, 2023 at three days, 21 hours, 41 minutes. The first-stage booster also flew for a record 20th time making a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

April 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-51 mission with 23 Starlink satellites launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. The first-stage booster made its 12th flight and landed downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

April 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-52 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:40 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the seventh time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

April 23 (Delayed from April 22): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-53 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:17 p.m. This was the 30th Space Coast launch of the year, with all but two coming from SpaceX. It also marked the 300th successful recovery of a first-stage booster among Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Of note, the launch came 16 minutes ahead of a Rocket Lab launch from New Zealand. Read more.

April 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Galileo L12 mission carrying satellites for the European Commission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 8:34 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for a record-trying 20th time, but was expended getting the payload to medium-Earth orbit. Read more.

April 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-54 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:08 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 13th time with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

May 2: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-55 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:37 p.m. This was the 19th flight of the first-stage booster, which launched both Crew 3 and Crew 4 human spaceflight missions. It’s recovery landing was on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.

May 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-57 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:14 p.m. The first-stage booster for the flight made its 15th trip to space with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic Ocean on SpaceX’s droneship Just Read the Instructions.  Read more.

May 8 (Delayed from May 7): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-56 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 2:42 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the third time having launched Crew-8 and a Starlink mission. It made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

May 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-58 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:53 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 15th time with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

May 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-59 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 8:32 p.m. This marked the 21st flight for the first-stage booster, the most in the booster fleet, having previously flown on human spaceflight missions Inspiration4 and Axiom Space’s Ax-1 among others. It made another recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

May 22: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-62 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 10:35 p.m. This was the eighth flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

May 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-63 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 10:45 p.m. This was the 13th flight of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship Just Read the Instructions.

May 28 (Delayed from May 27): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-60 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 10:24 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 10th time and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

May 31: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-64 mission carrying 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 at 10:37 p.m. The booster flew for the 14th time making a landing on the droneship A shortfall of Gravitas, a record turnaround for droneship recovery coming less than 84 hours since the previous recovery landing on May 28. Read more.

June 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink g8-5 mission carrying 20 Starlink satellites including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:16 p.m.  This was the 20th flight of the first-stage booster that made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

June 5 (Delayed from June 1, May 6, 17, 21, 25 2024; July 21, 2023; April 22, 2024): Boeing CST-100 Starliner atop United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 10:52 a.m. on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) carrying NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams on an eight-day mission to the International Space Station followed by a parachute-and-airbag-assisted ground landing in the desert of the southwestern United States. The May 6 attempt was scrubbed two hours before liftoff because of valve on ULA’s upper Centaur stage that teams continue to investigate. Teams deemed the valve needed to be replaced and the rocket needed to be rolled back from the pad to Boeing’s Vertical Integration Facility. A helium leak in the Starliner capsule further delayed it from a planned May 17 target to May 21 and then May 25. A June 1 attempt scrubbed with less than 4 minutes on the countdown clock. Read more.

June 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-1 mission carrying 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:56 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 16th time landing on the droneship  A Shortfall of Gravitas. It also marked the 300th landing of a Falcon 9 booster.

June 20 (Delayed from June 18, 19): SpaceX Falcon 9 on SES 24 mission flying the ASTRA 1P communication satellite for Luxembourg-based communications company SES for TV markets in Germany, Spain and France from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:35 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the ninth time making another recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, the 250th time SpaceX had used a droneship for a successful recovery. Read more.

June 23 (Delayed from June 12,13,14): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-2 mission with 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:15 p.m. An abort at T-0 on June 14 forced SpaceX to delay its launch nine days and change out the first-stage booster. The new booster made its 11h flight with a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

June 25: SpaceX Falcon Heavy on its 10th launch ever with payload of the GOES-U satellite for the NOAA from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. The two side boosters returned for a land landing at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station while the center core stage fell into the ocean. Read more.

June 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 10-3 mission with Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:14 a.m. The booster for the flight made a record 22nd launch with a landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 8-9 mission carrying 20 Starlink satellites including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:55 a.m. This was the 16th flight of the first-stage booster, which was previously on the pad for the Starlink 10-3 mission, but was changed out after an issue when it hit T-0 during a launch attempt. It made a landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic. Read more.

July 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Turksat 6A mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:30 p.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 15th time and made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-9 mission launching 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 1:45 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 17th flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic. The launch was the first since a California Starlink launch that ended up with a second-stage failure that grounded the Falcon 9. Read more.

July 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-4 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:09 a.m. This was the 14th flight of its first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This marked the 300th successful reflight of a booster. Read more.

July 30: United Launch Alliance Atlas V on USSF-51 with classified payload from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 6:45 a.m. One of 16 remaining Atlas V rockets for ULA. Read more.

Aug. 2: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-6 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 1:01 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 12th time with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It was SpaceX’s 50th launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Aug. 4 (Delayed from Aug. 3): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the NG-21 resupply mission taking up the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft with cargo to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:03 a.m, The first-stage booster flew for the 10th time and made a land recovery at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. This was the 2nd time SpaceX has flown the Cygnus spacecraft. Weather led to a scrub of the Aug. 3 attempt, but SpaceX was able to launch despite Tropical Storm Debby churning off Florida’s southwest coast. Read more.

Aug. 10 (Delayed from Aug. 9): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-3 mission with 21 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:50 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 21st time, one of four boosters with more than 20 flights among the SpaceX fleet. It landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Was scrubbed from Friday because of bad weather in the launch recovery zone in the Atlantic.  Read more.

Aug. 12 (Delayed from Aug. 10, 11): SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-7 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 6:37 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 17th time landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. Read more.

LAUNCHED IN 2023

Jan. 3: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Transporter-6 mission carrying 114 payloads for a variety of customers blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:56 a.m. Read more.

Jan. 9: A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off carrying 40 satellites for OneWeb at 11:50 p.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Read more.

Jan. 15: The fifth-ever flight of SpaceX’s powerhouse Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off at 5:56 p.m. from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A on a mission for the Space Force dubbed USSF-67. Read more.

Jan. 18: A SpaceX Falcon 9 on the GPS III Space Vehicle 06 mission for the Space Force rose through the pink, orange and blue horizon at 7:24 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Read more.

Jan. 26: SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 5-2 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launched at 4:32 a.m. sending up 56 Starlink satellites. Read more.

Feb. 2: Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-3 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 2:43 a.m. 200th successful flight of Falcon 9 on mission to send up 53 Starlink satellites. Read more.

Feb. 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Amazonas-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 lifted off at 8:32 p.m. Payload is communications satellite for Hispasat known also as the Amazonas Nexus. Read more.

Feb. 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-4 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 launched 55 Starlink satellites at 12:10 a.m. This set a then-record turnaround between launches from the same pad for SpaceX coming just five days, three hours, and 38 minutes since the Feb. 6 launch. Read more.

Feb. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Inmarsat’s I-6 F2 satellite launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:59 p.m. The second of six planned communication satellite launches, the first of which came in 2021 with the final coming by 2025. Read more.

Feb. 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 6-1 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:13 p.m. carrying 21 of the second-generation Starlink satellites. Read more.

March 2: Crew-6 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching Crew Dragon Endeavour from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A at 12:34 a.m. A Feb. 27 attempt was scrubbed with less than three minutes before liftoff. Flying were NASA astronauts mission commander Stephen Bowen and pilot Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, heading to the International Space Station for around a six-month stay. It’s the sixth SpaceX operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Read more.

March 9: A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off carrying 40 satellites for OneWeb launched at 2:13 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. The first-stage booster flew for the 13th time landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

March 14: After arrival of Crew-6 and departure of Crew-5 to make room for a cargo Dragon, SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a cargo Dragon spacecraft on CRS-27, the 27th resupply mission to the International Space Station from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at 8:30 p.m. Read more.

March 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the SES 18 and 19 mission, a pair of communication satellites set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Set a record for SpaceX mission turnaround with launch only four hours and 17 minutes after a Starlink launch from California. Read more.

March 22: Relativity Space Terran-1, a 3D-printed rocket awaiting company’s first-ever launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 16 at 11:25 p.m. While first stage successfully separated, the second stage engine did not get it into orbit. Read more.

March 24: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:43 a.m. carrying 56 Starlink satellites to orbit. The booster made its 10th flight. Read more.

March 29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launched at 4:01 p.m. The booster making its fourth flight landed on Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

April 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Intelsat 40e mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. Read more.

April 19: SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on Starlink 6-2 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:31 a.m. with 21 Starlink satellites. The first-stage booster made its eighth flight with a recovery on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

April 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the SES 03b mPOWER-B mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:12 p.m. Read more.

April 30: SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of ViaSat-3 Americas’ communications satellite from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A at 8:26 p.m. All three boosters were expended, so no sonic boom landings. Also flying were payloads for Astranis Space Technologies and Gravity Space headed for geostationary orbits. It’s the sixth-ever Falcon Heavy launch. The launch pad endured a lightning strike on April 27, but SpaceX said the rocket was healthy for the attempt. Read more.

May 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with 56 Starlink satellites at 3:31 a.m. The first-stage booster making its eighth flight was recovered once again on the droneship called A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

May 14: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launnched at 1:03 a.m. Read more.

May 19: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-3 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:19 a.m. carrying 22 second-gen Starlink satellites. The first-stage booster made its fifth flight and landing on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in Atlantic. Read more.

May 21: Axiom 2 mission with four private passengers launched to the International Space Station for an eight-day visit flying on a SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with Crew Dragon Freedom from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at 5:37 p.m.  The first-stage booster flew for the first time with a return to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. This is only the second crewed mission from the U.S. in 2023 following March’s Crew-6 mission. The second Axiom Space private mission to the International Space Station following 2022′s Axiom 1 mission. Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is the mission commander with aviator John Shoffner as pilot and two mission specialist seats paid for by the Saudi Space Commission, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni. Read more.

May 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the ArabSat BADR-8 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 14th flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

June 4: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-4 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 22 second-generation Starlink satellites at 8:20 a.m. The first-stage booster made its third flight and was able to land down range on droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch came 13 years to the day since the first Falcon 9 launch in 2010. It was the 229th attempt of a Falcon 9 launch with 228 of the 229 successful. Read more.

June 5 (Delayed from June 3, 4): SpaceX Falcon 9 on CRS-28 launched a cargo Dragon spacecraft, the 28th resupply mission to the International Space Station from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A at at 11:47 a.m. The first-stage booster made its fifth flight and SpaceX recovered it downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. This is the fourth flight of the crew Dragon, which will be bring up nearly 7,000 pounds of supplies, dock to the station 41 hours after launch and remain on the station for three weeks. Read more.

June 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-11 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 53 of the company’s internet satellites at 3:10 a.m.  The first stage booster flew for the ninth time with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

June 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the PSN MSF mission to launch the Satria communications satellite for the Indonesian government and PSN, an Indonesian satellite operator. This satellite will provide broadband internet and communications capability for public use facilities in Indonesia’s rural regions. Liftoff was at 6:21 p.m. with the first-stage booster making its 12th flight and once again landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

June 22: United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy on NROL-68 for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command and the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37B lifted off at 5:18 a.m. This was the second-to-last Delta IV Heavy launch with the final one expected in 2024. Read more.

June 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 5-12 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 carrying 56 Starlink satellites at 11:35 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the ninth time and landed on a droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

July 1: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the ESA Euclid space telescope mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:12 a.m. The European Space Agency telescope is designed to make a 3D map of the universe by looking at billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light years away across one third of the sky. Read more.

July 9: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:58 p.m. The booster made a record 16th flight and was recovered again downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 5-15 mission with 54 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:50 p.m. (early Friday scrubbed 40 seconds before launch, and early Saturday option passed over) Booster made a record-tying 16th fligh landing on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

July 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-6 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:50 p.m. carrying 22 of its v2 mini Starlink satellites. The booster flew for the sixth time and made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

July 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-7 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:01 a.m. with 22 Starlink satellites. Booster flew for the 15th time including crewed launches Inspiration4 and Ax-1, and made recovery landing on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. The launch set a record for turnaround time for the company from a single launch pad coming four days, three hours, and 11 minutes since the July 23 launch. The previous record was set from Feb. 6-12 at five days, three hours, and 38 minutes. Read more.

July 28: SpaceX Falcon Heavy from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A that launched a telecom satellite for Hughes Network Systems called the Jupiter 3 EchoStar XXIV at 11:04 p.m. The two side boosters were recovered at Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This was the third Falcon Heavy launch of 2023 and seventh overall. Read more.

Aug. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Intelsat G-37 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1 a.m. The first-stage booster made its sixth flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. Read more.

Aug. 6: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-8 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:41 p.m. with 22 Starlink V2 minis. The first-stage booster made its fourth flight with another recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. The turnaround time between the Aug. 3 Intelsat G-37 mission and this mission broke SpaceX’s previous record for time between launches from a single launch pad. Previous record was from July 24-28 with a turnaround of four days, three hours, and 11 minutes. This one came in at three days, 21 hours, 41 minutes. Read more.

Aug. 11: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-9 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:17 a.m. Payload is 22 of the V2 mini Starlink satellites. First-stage booster flew for the ninth time with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. Read more.

Aug. 16: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-10 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with 22 of the V2 mini Starlink satellites. The first-stage booster made its 13th flight and SpaceX was able to recover it again on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

Aug. 26: SpaceX Crew-7 mission on a Falcon 9 launching the Crew Dragon Endurance from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A lifted off at 3:27 a.m. liftoff. It’s the seventh SpaceX operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Flying are NASA astronaut and mission commander Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA astronaut and pilot Andreas Mogensen, mission specialist JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. This will be Endurance’s third spaceflight after having been used on the Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions. The launch will use a new first-stage booster. The crew will arrive at 8:50 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 27. with hatch opening about two hours later. It will stay docked about 190 days. Read more.

Aug. 26: SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 6-11 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:05 p.m. with 22 Starlink satellites. The first stage flew for the third time and landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Aug. 31: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-13 mission carrying 22 of the v2 Starlink minis from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:21 p.m. It was SpaceX’s ninth launch of the calendar month matching the record nine launches it had in May. It was the company’s 60th orbital launch of the year. The first-stage booster flew for the seventh time and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. Read more.

Sept. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-12 mission carrying 21 of the v2 Starlink minis from Kennedy Space Center’s Space Launch Complex 39-A at 10:47 p.m. It marked the 62nd SpaceX orbital launch in 2023 besting the 61 launches the company performed in 2022. The first-stage booster on the flight made its 10th launch and was able to make its recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept. 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-14 mission carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 took off at 11:12 p.m. The first-stage booster made its seventh flight with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. Read more.

Sept. 10 (delayed from Aug. 29): United Launch Alliance Atlas V on the SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 for the National Reconnaissance Office and Space Force from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 8:47 a.m.. Delayed because of Tropical Storm Idalia. This was the second ULA launch of 2023. SILENTBARKER’s classified mission is to improve space domain awareness to support national security and provide intelligence data to U.S. senior policy makers, the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. It will provide the capability to search, detect and track objects from space-based sensors for timely custody and event detection. Read more.

Sept. 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-16 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launching at 11:38 p.m. The first-stage booster for the mission made its fifth flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. It marked SpaceX’s 65th orbital launch of the year including missions from Canaveral, KSC and California. Read more.

Sept. 19: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-17 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 launching at 11:38 p.m. This was a record reuse flight for the first-stage booster flying for a 17th time with a recovery landing on the droneship A Short Fall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept.23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-18 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:38 p.m. The first-stage booster made a record-tying 17th flight with a recovery landing down range on droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Sept.29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-19 mission, carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites, flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10 p.m. The booster on this flight made its 10th launch having flown on CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19 and five Starlink missions. It made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX’s 69th launch of the year, its 49th from the Space Coast, 39th from Cape Canaveral and the other 10 from KSC. With only three non-SpaceX flights this year, it was the Space Coast’s 52nd overall. Read more.

Oct. 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-21 mission with 22 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:36 a.m.  The booster made its eighth flight with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX’s 70th launch of the year, its 50th from the Space Coast, 40th from Cape Canaveral. With only three non-SpaceX flights this year, it is the Space Coast’s 53rd overall. Read more.

Oct. 6: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:06 p.m. Payload was Amazon’s two test Project Kuiper satellites that were set to fly on ULA’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket, but switched to one of the nine Atlas rockets Amazon had previously purchased from ULA as Vulcan had been delayed to no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2023. Read more.

Oct. 13 (Delayed from Oct. 12): A SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched NASA’s Psyche probe into space launch from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A at 10:19 a.m. The probe was delayed from 2022, and headed for the asteroid Psyche, using a Mars-gravity assist and not arriving until August 2029. Psyche is a nickel-iron core asteroid that orbits the sun beyond Mars anywhere from 235 million to 309 million miles away. The two side boosters returned for a land landing at Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Read more.

Oct. 13 (Delayed from Oct. 8): SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-22 mission with 22 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:01 p.m. The first-stage booster for the mission is making its 14th flight, and made another recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas down range in the Atlantic. The launch came 8 hours and 42 minutes after the Falcon Heavy launch from nearby KSC earlier in the day. Read more.

Oct. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-23 mission with 22 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:36 p.m. This is the first-stage booster made its 16th flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. This marked the Space Coasts’ 57th launch of the year, which matched the total it had in 2022. Read more.

Oct. 21: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-24 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:17 p.m. The first-stage booster made its fourth flight with a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This became the record 58th launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Oct. 29: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-25 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:20 p.m. This was the 59th launch from the Space Coast for the year. The first-stage booster flew for the eighth time and made a  recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed down range in the Atlantic. Read more.

Nov. 3: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-26 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:37 p.m. This was the 60th launch from the Space Coast for the year. The first-stage booster flew for a record 18th time and made a  recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed down range in the Atlantic. Read more.

Nov. 8: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-27 mission with 23 of its Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 12:05 a.m. The first-stage booster made its 11th flight with a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 61st launch from the Space Coast for the year. Read more.

Nov. 9: SpaceX Falcon 9 with cargo Dragon on the CRS-29 mission to carry supplies to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-B at 8:28 p.m. It’s the 29th resupply mission for SpaceX with its cargo Dragon filled with 6,500 pounds of supplies for the Expedition 70 crew with an expected arrival to the ISS about 5:20 a.m. Saturday. It includes NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) science experiment to measure atmospheric gravity waves and how it could affect Earth’s climate and the Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low-Earth-Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T), a technology demonstration for laser communications among the ISS, an orbiting relay satellite and a ground-based observatory on Earth. The first-stage booster flew for the second time and landed back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. Read more.

Nov. 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the SES O3b mPOWER mission to medium-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40  at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:08 p.m. First stage made its 9th flight with a recovery landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read more.

Nov. 18: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-28 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:05 a.m. with 23 Starlink satellites. First-stage booster flew for the 11th time and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions This was the 64th launch from the Space Coast in 2023. This launch came hours ahead of the Starship and Super Heavy launch attempt in Texas. Read more.

Nov. 22: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-29 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:47 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the 15th time and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. This marked the 65th launch from the Space Coast in 2023. Read more.

Nov. 27: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-30 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40at 11:20 p.m. This was a southerly trajectory launch. The booster flew for the 17th time (3rd booster to do so) and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions. It was the 66th launch of the year from the Space Coast, 62nd from SpaceX in Florida, and 87th orbital launch from SpaceX including California missions. Read more.

Dec. 2: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-31 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11 p.m. First stage booster flew for the sixth time and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It marked the 67th launch of the year from the Space Coast, 63rd from SpaceX in Florida, and 89th orbital launch from SpaceX including California missions.

Dec. 7: SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-32 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:07 a.m. The first-stage booster flew for the ninth time with a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 68th launch from the Space Coast in 2023. Read more.

Dec. 18 (Delayed from Dec. 11, 12, 13) SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-34 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:01 p.m. Read more.

Dec. 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-32 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:33 a.m.  This was a record 19th flight for the first-stage booster having flown previously on Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3 and 13 Starlink missions. It made a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic. This was the 70th Space Coast launch of the year. Read more.

Dec. 28 (Delayed from Dec. 10, 11, 13): SpaceX Falcon Heavy from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A on USSF-52, the third mission for the Space Force, launching the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on its seventh trip to space at 8:07 p.m. The side boosters flew for the fifth time, previously used on the Psyche mission, two Space Force missions and one commercial flight with another double land landing at Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Read more.

Dec. 28: SpaceX Falcon 9 on Starlink 6-36 mission with 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 11:01 p.m. This was the 12th flight for the first-stage booster with a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic. This was a record turnaround among SpaceX launches from Space Coast launch pads at 2 hours and 54 minutes besting October’s double launch that saw a Falcon 9 launch at CCSFS just eight hours, 42 minutes after a Falcon Heavy launch at KSC. Read more.

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Now he’s 17 and about to find out how much of his life will be spent in prison.

Berger-Smith quietly pleaded no contest on June 12 to five criminal charges, including sexual battery and kidnapping, a charge that would land an adult in prison for life. The plea came with no promise of leniency. Prosecutors are going to ask for a 30-year sentence followed by lifetime sex offender probation, said State Attorney’s Office spokesman Aaron Savitski.

Broward Circuit Judge Peter Holden is scheduled to decide Berger-Smith’s fate at a hearing Friday.

Minors cannot be sentenced to life without parole in Florida for any offense other than murder, and appeals courts are frequently asked to weigh in on whether judges went too far when imposing prison terms on teenagers.

Defense lawyer James Lewis said this week he’s not expecting a slap on the wrist for his client.

Prosecutors announced in August 2022, two months after the crime was committed, that Berger-Smith would be charged as an adult, citing the severity of the crime. According to police reports, Berger-Smith told the victim he wanted to add her to his “collection,” that he had AIDS and that he was looking to impregnate her.

There has been no indication that the defendant actually had AIDS or HIV, the virus that causes the fatal disease.

In a motion seeking leniency, Lewis said his client was too young at the time of the offense to fully appreciate how wrong it was.

“Numerous scientific studies demonstrate that a 14-year-old brain is not fully developed, which is a primary reason why we have a juvenile justice system,” he wrote.

The victim will have the opportunity to make a statement before Holden imposes his sentence.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.