Melbourne, city, Brevard County, eastern Florida, on the Indian River (a lagoon) and the Atlantic Ocean; incorporated 1888. Located near the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral and Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, it is a major center for producing high-technology and aerospace equipment. It is also a beach resort and a citrus-processing center. Florida Institute of Technology (1958), the Brevard Art Center and Museum, a performing arts theater, and a science center are here. The community, settled in the late 1860s, is named for Melbourne, Australia. The city of Eau Gallie was annexed to Melbourne in 1969. Population 46,536 (1980); 59,646 (1990); 71,382 (2000).
