Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, located along Florida’s coast about 60 miles east of the city of Orlando, was established by agreement as an overlay of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. The refuge lies within one of the most productive estuaries in the country.

The refuge traces its beginnings to the development of the nation’s Space Program. In 1962, NASA acquired the lands and waters adjacent to Cape Canaveral to establish the John F. Kennedy Space Center. NASA built a launch complex and other space-related facilities, but the development of most of the area was not necessary. On August 28, 1963, as the 286th refuge of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed an agreement to establish the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. In 1975 a second agreement established Canaveral National Seashore. Today, the Department of Interior manages most of the undeveloped portions of the Kennedy Space Center as a National Wildlife Refuge and National Seashore.