Florida
Amazon rocket launch, Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Florida, may be seen in Fort Myers, Cape Coral
What time is United Launch Alliance Atlas V, Amazon rocket launch? Liftoff will potentially be April 28, 2025, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
When the Amazon rocket launch lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, there’s a chance it’ll be visible in Fort Myers.
Not only that, when United Launch Alliance sends its Atlas V rocket to space, there’s a chance people beyond Florida − like in other states as far as New York or Indiana − could possibly see it light up the sky.
Visibility from most of Florida is possible, according to ULA.
What’s on board the ULA Atlas V? Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is launching Project Kuiper, a global network of satellites, to compete with SpaceX CEO-billionaire Elon Musk and Starlink satellites. It begins with the first-ever launch of the Amazon Project Kuiper production satellites, courtesy of the ULA Atlas V rocket. Online, the mission has been called the “Amazon rocket launch” or “the Amazon rocket launch from Florida.”
Equipped with five side-mounted rocket boosters, the reason why it could be visible from Florida to New York, the Atlas V will lift the $10 billion internet constellation’s first set of 27 satellites into low-Earth orbit.
ULA’s Atlas V rocket should be visible outside of Florida pending weather and clouds. Below is information on ULA’s powerful rocket, the Atlas V, how to watch the launch, and a list of which cities and states that could potentially see the ULA Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
What time is the Amazon rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida? When does United Launch Alliance Atlas V liftoff?
A two-hour Amazon rocket launch window is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT Monday, April 28, 2025, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. An initial attempt April 9, 2025, was scrubbed due to weather. USA TODAY Network’s Space Team will provide live coverage of the Amazon rocket launch from Cape Canaveral two hours before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.
Which cities can see ULA Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida? Can I watch Amazon rocket launch from Florida?
ULA provided a helpful graphic (see above) that shows the Atlas V launch of Kuiper 1 for Amazon and its intended flight path and launch visibility. Note: Cities in the Space Coast of Florida, which is in Brevard County and measures 72 miles of coast, include Titusville, Mims, Port St. John, Merritt Island, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, West Melbourne, Palm Bay, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Grant-Valkaria and Sebastian.
Launch, Space Coast, east Orlando, near University of Central Florida, Bithlo, the northern part of the Treasure Coast, Indian River County, Sebastian, Vero Beach, parts of Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Oak Hill
1: Launch + 30 seconds, Space Coast, Orlando, the Treasure Coast, Indian River County, Sebastian, Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Oak Hill, Volusia County, St. Augustine, Ocala, Lakeland area
2: Launch + 90 seconds, which includes PLF Jettison or separation and jettison of the payload fairing: Space Coast, Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Oak Hill, Port Orange, Volusia County, Treasure Coast, Indian River County, Martin County, St. Lucie County, Orlando, Sanford, Kissimmee, Central Florida, Ocala, Lakeland, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach
3: Launch + 150 seconds, which includes solid rocket booster jettison, visibility extends to Sebring, Winter Haven, Palatka, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Manatee County, Sarasota County, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Collier County, Lee County, Clearwater, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Wellington, Jupiter, Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, southern Georgia, Savannah, Georgia, parts of the Caribbean, the Bahamas
4: Launch + 210 seconds, which includes booster separation, Tallahassee, Panama City, Panhandle, Big Bend area of Florida; visibility extends beyond Florida to Georgia, South Carolina, parts of North Carolina
5: Launch + 270 seconds, ULA Atlas V rocket launch visibility extends beyond Florida to these other states and cities:
- Georgia; Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Georgia
- Alabama; Dothan, Alabama; just outside Birmingham, Alabama
- Tennessee; Knoxville, Tennessee; just outside Huntsville, Tennessee; just outside Nashville, Tennessee
- Kentucky
- South Carolina; Spartanburg, South Carolina
- North Carolina; High Point, North Carolina; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina
- Virginia; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia
- West Virginia; Charleston, West Virginia
- Maryland; Washington, Maryland
- Delaware; Annapolis, Delaware; Dover, Delaware
6: Launch + 330 seconds, ULA Atlas V rocket launch visibility extends beyond Florida to these other states and cities:
- New Jersey: Trenton, New Jersey; New York, New Jersey
- Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Erie, Pennsylvania
- Ohio: Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Toledo, Ohio
- Indiana: just outside Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Michigan: Detroit, Michigan
- Kentucky: just outside Louisville, Kentucky
- Rhode Island: Providence, Rhode Island
- Connecticut: Hartford, Connecticut
- Massachusetts: Boston, Massachusetts
- New York: Binghamton, New York; Albany, New York
7: Launch + 390 seconds, visibility of Atlas V rocket may be possible in these states:
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Delaware
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Toronto, Canada
The above guidelines are estimates based on the graphic provided by ULA.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
Florida
Florida college Republicans group chat reveals racist texts: ‘Avoid the coloreds like the plague’
It only took three weeks for a group chat for conservative students at Florida International University (FIU) to become a place where participants eagerly used racist slurs, prompting widespread condemnation from community leaders.
Abel Alexander Carvajal, secretary of Miami-Dade county’s Republican party and a student at FIU’s College of Law, reportedly started the chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in September 2025.
But on Wednesday, the Miami Herald published leaked WhatsApp conversations in which the college Republicans made racist, sexist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, including variations of the N-word used more than 400 times. Knowledge of the chat’s existence was revealed on the same day that Republican lawmakers in Florida pushed forward a bill to rename a one-mile stretch of road alongside FIU in honor of Kirk.
William Bejerano, who the Herald noted once tried to start an anti-abortion group at Miami Dade College, was the most prolific user of the N-word. Using the slur, Bejerano called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading and dissecting.
Dariel Gonzalez, then the College Republicans’ recruitment chair, who has recently applied to become a GOP committee member, responded to the calls for violence by saying: “How edgy.” He repeatedly used “colored” to describe Black people, including writing: “Ew you had colored professors?!” and “Avoid the coloreds like the plague,” according to the Herald.
Carvajal, who was appointed to a two-year role on the city of Hialeah’s planning and zoning board earlier this year, confirmed to the paper that the group chat was his doing, but he denied knowledge of the problematic comments until the publication contacted him about its logs last week.
“It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message,” Carvajal told the Herald.
“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number.”
The Herald found that Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants in the chat and 42 of his own messages before the publication obtained the chat’s logs.
He also participated in some of the racist discussions. While referring to a Black student who allegedly left FIU’s College Republicans after a member of the group “called her a [N-word]”, the Floridian reported that Carvajal wrote: “Why didn’t miggress leave?” Elsewhere in the chat, the publication reported that Carvajal used “Miggress”, “Migglet” and “Migger” to refer to Black women, Black children and Black people, in general.
At one point, Gonzalez wrote: “You can fuck all the [K-word, a slur for Jewish people] you want. Just don’t marry them and procreate.”
Ian Valdes, the Turning Point USA FIU chapter president, responded, “I would def not marry a Jew,” before changing the group chat’s name from “Uber [R-word slur for disabled people] Yapping” to “Gooning in Agartha”. “Gooning” is a gen-Z slang term for male masturbation, while “Agartha” is a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful leaders in Nazi Germany next to Hitler.
Gonzalez reportedly described Agartha to the group chat as “Nazi heaven sort of”.
Kevin Cooper, the first Jewish chair of the Miami Dade Republican party, condemned the group chat in a statement published to X and called for Carvajal’s resignation.
“The majority of our board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation. We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida,” he wrote.
That call was echoed by Juan Porras, a Republican state representative and Miami-Dade GOP state committee member, who said in a statement: “Leadership carries responsibility. When someone in a leadership role engages in this kind of behavior, it damages the trust placed in our party by voters across Florida. For that reason, I am asking the Miami Dade Republican party secretary to step down from this position.”
In a joint statement, Florida Republican state senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez denounced the chats and called for the expulsion from party leadership of its participants.
“The individuals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly misaligned their beliefs are to the views of the Republican party of Florida,” their statement said. “We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party … We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination.”
Multiple leaked group chats from young Republicans have created controversy in recent years.
Last year, Politico published messages from a group chat of more than 100 conservatives across the country in which users also made racist and antisemitic comments. In 2022, a Young Republican group chat from North Dakota was revealed as a cesspool of homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.
Florida
Gas prices rise in South Florida amid U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, as the stock market also reports a dip
Four days into the Iranian conflict, gas prices are rising at many stations in South Florida.
“I’ve traveled all over the United States,” says Stacey Williams. CBS Miami spoke to him as he was gassing up on the turnpike. He paid $66 for 20 gallons of diesel to fill his pickup truck. Williams has noted the fluctuations in fuel as he drives to locations for his work on turbines. He just spent three weeks at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant south of Miami.
“The salary we get paid per hour does not add up to what we pay for gas, housing, and food,” he says.
Mitchell Gershon is also dealing with the higher gas prices. He has to fill three vehicles constantly for his business—Thrifty Gypsy, a pop-up store at musical venues. He’s back and forth from Orlando to Miami and says fuel is costing him 20% more. When asked how he handles these fluctuations, he said, “Have a little backup cash so you are ready for it.”
The rise in oil prices contributed to a drop in the stock market on Tuesday, which means some retirement accounts dipped, too. CBS Miami talked to Chad NeSmith, director of investments at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, for perspective on the drop.
“We are seeing most of the pullback today. Yesterday was a shock,” he says. He’s not expecting runaway oil prices but says investors should stay in the loop: “Pay attention to your portfolio. Stick to your goals. Have a plan because these things are completely unpredictable.”
That unpredictability has Williams adjusting his budget. “You just cut back, cut corners, all you can do,” he says.
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