The California Coastal Commission, which manages activity everywhere the state meets the sea, has unanimously rejected the U.S. Space Force's request to double the number of rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, from 50 to 100. The commission is concerned about the impacts that many sonic booms will have on both the local wildlife and neighborhoods in Santa Barbara County. As a result of its application being rejected, the Space Force will likely have to... well, just do it anyway. Which is what it did the last time this happened.
Just a few years ago, Vandenberg only played host to 4-6 launches every year, few enough that any environmental or residential risks from sonic booms was considered minor. That has changed a lot in a very short time: in 2024, it launched fully 51 rockets, making it the second-busiest spaceport in the world. As China ramps up its space and anti-satellite capabilities, America is trying to beef up its own orbital presence. In addition, private companies are putting more and more tonnage into space, most notably SpaceX with its Starlink constellation of small satellites in low-earth orbit. Many other corporations want to start putting up their own constellations, not to mention the U.S. military itself.
Getting all of that into orbit requires a lot of launches, way more than the old annual average. That also means way more sonic booms. Southern California is home to the Western snowy plover, for example, a threatened species that might be put at further risk. It also means that certain beaches need to be evacuated of humans during each launch; as the number ramps up, those beaches might just get effectively closed off. These are the exact issues that led the commission to deny an increase of 36 to 50 launches last year, as Politico reports. Except, as noted above, the Space Force did launch 50 rockets last year; actually, it launched 51. Oops.
Read more: Why Racing Cars Use Straight Cut Gears
Commercial Enterprise Vs The Environment, Ad Astra
Last year, the Space Force did at least promise to adhere to the commission's seven conditions for monitoring and preserving the health of the coastline. This time around, the Space Force has promised nothing, as it did not even show up for the commission's hearings, per a separate Politico report.
It's pretty clear whose sails are getting filled by the political winds here. The California Legislature itself came down on the Space Force's side last year, sending a letter to the commission asking it to approve more launches. It notes that commercial aerospace is a huge economic sector for the state that is currently booming, and not just sonically. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump just signed an executive order aimed at streamlining the permitting process for commercial launches and ordering the Transportation Department to "eliminate or expedite... environmental reviews."
Wait, so are we talking about private sector or military spaceflights here? Good question, and the answer is yes. The legal basis for the Space Force's actions is that it is claiming that all these launches are federal activity, thus not under the state's jurisdiction anyway. The commission, however, has countered that a lot of these launches are just SpaceX rockets putting SpaceX material into orbit, which ought to be classified as commercial activity, not federal. So far, no such classification has happened. Given where things stand, I wouldn't hold my breath.
In the meantime, Politico says that the Space Force and SpaceX are planning to build a second launch site at Vandenberg. That doesn't exactly sound like anyone's planning to slow down. I just hope the poor snowy plover, not to mention the good people of California, don't suffer too much for it.
Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox...
Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Comments