Cape Canaveral from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a healand in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of that state's Atlantic coast 45 minutes East of Orlando by car. It sits due east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River. It is part of a region known as the Space Coast, and is the site of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Since many United States spacecraft are launched from both the station and the Kennedy Space Center on nearby Merritt Island, the term "Cape Canaveral" or "Canaveral" has become a metonym that refers to both as the launch site of spacecraft.