Kennedy Space Center plans for heavy launch schedule

By the year 2052, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida may have landing strips for rocket planes going to the International Space Station, rockets launching every 36 hours, hotels near the Visitor Complex and even space tourists flying out of Brevard County, reports Florida Today.

Space officials recently unveiled their land-use plan for Florida's spaceport, which encompasses the space center and the Air Force Station, for the next 50 years.

By 2075, the plan says it is possible for 251 spacecraft to launch from the spaceport annually. Currently, only about 21 launchers lift off every year, according to the report.

"It looks like I'm smoking something or doing something to come up with launch rates like that," Kennedy Space Center Director Roy Bridges told the publication.

Bridges said this was just a plan. The launch market, government's demand and available technology would drive what actually happens.

The plan also caters to tourists. It projects that between 8.1 million and 11.3 million tourists could visit the Space Coast annually by 2050. They would be allotted space near an expanded Visitor Complex for hotels and conference centers.