Raw video: SpaceX nails the landing. Posted June 3, 2017 SpaceX video

Then-Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence gave a speech before a crowd of several hundred at the Space Coast Convention Center at the Holiday Inn Express in Cocoa on Oct. 31, 2016.(Photo: TIM SHORTT/FLORIDA TODAY)Buy Photo

Vice President Mike Pence at 2 p.m.Wednesday will join NASA officials introducing the space agencys newest class of astronauts, selected from a record total of more than 18,000 applicants.

NASA did not say how many candidates would be chosen from the group that submitted applications by February 2016.

The most recent class, selected in 2013 from 6,300 applicants, included four men and four women.

Uponcompletingtwo years of training, the rookie astronauts will be eligible to join International Space Station crews expected to fly through at least 2024, and could be assigned to NASAs first deep space exploration missions since the Apollo era.

The agency aims to launch crews into orbit around the moon, and eventually on missions to Mars, in Orion capsules lifted from Kennedy Space Center by the giant Space Launch System rocket. The rockets first unmanned test flight is targeted for 2019, with a first crewed flight possible around 2022.

More: SpaceX launches ISS cargo from KSC, lands Falcon at Cape Canaveral

Pence will represent a Trump administration that has not yet nominated a NASA administrator or signaled any major shifts in exploration policy from the Obama administration.

If the administration follows through on plans to revive a National Space Council, Pence would be its leader.

It was not known if Pence planned any space-related announcements in conjunction with the astronaut selection. NASA said Pence would tour the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center and receive briefings on current human spaceflight operations.

In June 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches a pair of commercial satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.(Photo: SpaceX)

Space Florida last week approved contributing up to $5 million to upgrades of Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which SpaceX is repairing after a rocket explosion there last September.

Officials said the improvements, including to the flame trench and sound suppression systems, would support more efficient launch operations.

More: SpaceX bets the house to become satellite internet provider

These improvements will allow the user to reduce processing time between launches and increase the frequency of flight, said Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello.

The upgrades are said to be distinct from the repairs necessary after a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad last Sept. 1 while being fueled for an engine-firing test. The state says the investment would benefit any launcher in the unlikely event that SpaceX should vacate the complex.

DiBello said the states $5 million contribution would be matched by more than $35 million in private investment, and would help create 70 jobs with average wages of $80,000.

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to the International Space Station and landed the first stage at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly after on Saturday, June 3, 2017.

Thats a good match, said board chairman Bill Dymond. And 70 jobs at $80,000 a year I think is worth $5 million as well.

SpaceX expects Complex 40 to be back in action in the late summer or early fall. Until then, it is launching rockets from nearby pad 39A to the north at Kennedy Space Center.

At the same meeting last Thursday, Space Florida approved up to $2.75 million more in FDOT funds for widening roads, relocating overhead lines and access roads in Exploration Park, described as benefitting Blue Origin and potentially other tenants there including OneWeb Satellites.

Stratolaunch Systems last week rolled its carrier aircraft out of its hangar for the first time in Mojave, California. The aircraft could perform its first air launch in 2019.(Photo: Stratolaunch Systems)

An aircraft with the worlds widest wingspan longer than an American football field left its Mojave Air and Space Port hangar for the first time last week in a first step toward planned launches ofsmall satellites.

Stratolaunch Systems Corp.s twin-fuselage plane equipped with six Boeing 747 jet engines and weighing 550,000 pounds rolled out on 28 wheels for fueling tests.

This was a crucial step in preparing the aircraft for ground testing, engine runs, taxi tests, and ultimately first flight, said CEO Jean Floyd.

Stratolaunch is targeting a 2019 first air launch of an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket. The plane eventually could carry several of the rockets.

The company founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen aims to provide unparalleled flexibility to launch small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds into low Earth orbit.

Stratolaunch is frequently identified as likely to set up operations at Kennedy Space Center's three-mile former shuttle runway, now operated by Space Florida.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.

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NASA, Pence to announce new astronaut class - Florida Today