President Johnson Announces Renaming of Station Number 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range and the NASA Launch Operations Center as JFK Space Center
“I have today determined that Station Number 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range and the NASA Launch Operations Center in Florida shall hereafter be known as the JFK Space Center, I have also acted today...to change the name of Cape Canaveral. It shall be known hereafter as Cape Kennedy.”
— President Johnson
Originally called the Launch Operations Center, the KSC was authorized in 1958 during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and completed in 1962 during the administration of John F. Kennedy. In 1963, the facility received its current name following Kennedy's assassination. The adjacent Cape Canaveral was also renamed Cape Kennedy, but this change was unpopular with local residents and the cape reverted to its original name by a legislative act of the State of Florida in 1973.
