Things To Do In SW Florida

SpaceX announced Monday its plans to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center later this year while building out more $1.8 billion in infrastructure in Florida to support two launch sites.

“SpaceX was founded with the ultimate mission of making humanity multiplanetary, and Starship is the vehicle that will enable us to become a spacefaring civilization,” said Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch. “Through this significant expansion of Starship production and launch capabilities in Florida, we’re taking a big step toward achieving this goal, and we are grateful to our partners across the state for their ongoing support.”

Previously dubbed “Project Hinton” by Space Florida, the massive investment is projected to bring 600 jobs with average wages of $93,000 a year to the region by 2030.

The news counters several rounds of bad space-related employment news in recent months including layoffs at Boeing and Blue Origin coupled with workforce reductions at NASA under President Trump’s purge of federal government agencies. read more

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA

As 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada are set to take effect on Tuesday, Hispanic-owned businesses and companies that depend on cross-border trade are already passing higher prices onto consumers and preparing to sharply reduce imports.

By DIDI TANG and MICHELLE L. PRICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest $100 billion in the United States, President Donald Trump said Monday, on top of $65 billion in investments the company had previously announced.

The last time SpaceX launched its Starship and Super Heavy rocket, the upper stage disintegrated spectacularly over the Atlantic. Two months later, SpaceX is set to try again today with less explosive results.

A Monday attempt, though, was scrubbed, but the company could try as soon as Tuesday.

Live webcast of Starship’s eighth flight test starts now https://t.co/Q9HTUSYmtf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 3, 2025

The Jan. 16 launch saw a successful catch of the Super Heavy booster back at the Texas launch site, but the Starship spacecraft blew up after passing over the Gulf of Mexico with scenes of the streaking debris posted to social media from places like the Turks & Caicos.

NEW: INCREDIBLE views of Starship 7 breaking up over Turks and Caicos tonight

Imagine seeing this over your house pic.twitter.com/ndyDETK4wC

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 16, 2025

The event grounded the in-development rocket, but the Federal Aviation Administration cleared it to launch again as of Feb. 26. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks tumbled Monday and wiped out even more of their gains since President Donald Trump ’s election in November, after he said that tariffs announced earlier on Canada and Mexico would take effect within hours.