BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Anticipation is building for Thursday's test flight of the spacecraft that could bring manned launches back to Brevard County.
Tens-of-thousands of spectators are expected to be on the Space Coast for the Orion launch.
In many ways, this week's flight is reminiscent of a shuttle launch, and many area business owners who thrived during the shuttle launches hope that is the case.
Orion T-shirts, caps and patches line store shelves on Florida's Space Coast.
"Probably 20 percent of our sales are international right now. So, there's world-wide appeal for this and excitement for the launch," said Brett Anderson of the Space Store.
Cocoa Village's Space Store isn't the only shop hoping the Orion test flight boosts the bottom line.
"Just the last few weeks, interest has been peaking. We've been working with the launch team for a special shirt for them, and we've had a lot of people coming in asking," Gerry Mulberry of Space Shirts said.
Space industry advocate Dale Ketcham said that kind of attention is good for the entire Space Coast.
"We get very large turnouts for significant science missions, you know, Mars Rover, things like that capture the attention of the American public, internationally as well. And, I think this is a reflection of that phenomena playing out and we hope it does," said Ketcham.
Thursday's $370 million unmanned flight will test all of Orion's critical systems for future vehicles meant to carry astronauts on missions of deep space exploration, including one-day trips to Mars.
"This is really the first step in deep exploration," said Ketcham.
Orion is set to launch at 7:05 a.m. Thursday.