WASHINGTON — A new environmental study is intended to support the continued increase of SpaceX launches from a California spaceport, but that growth faces potential obstacles.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off Dec. 28 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, deploying 22 Starlink satellites. That was the 46th and final orbital launch of the year from Vandenberg, a cadence not seen from that facility since the 1960s.
The number of launches from Vandenberg has increased sharply in recent years from just a single orbital launch, of a Falcon 9, in 2020. That growth has been driven by SpaceX, which accounted for every Vandenberg orbital launch in 2024 except for one launch of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket in July.
An environmental study getting underway would allow even more launches from Vandenberg. The Department of the Air Force announced Dec. 13 it would carry out an environmental impact statement (EIS) covering both an increase in SpaceX launches at Vandenberg as well as use of a second launch pad.
The EIS will examine the environmental impacts from the redevelopment of Space Launch Complex (SLC) 6 for use by SpaceX for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. The Space Force awarded SpaceX access to SLC-6, aka “Slick Six,” in 2023 after the final launch of United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 from the site.
SLC-6 was built in the 1960s for the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, which was canceled in 1969 before any launches took place. It was later converted to support Space Shuttle launches, but mothballed after the Challenger accident in 1986 before hosting a single launch. ULA took over the site in 2006.
The EIS would also allow SpaceX to conduct up to 100 launches annually between SLC-6 and its existing launch pad at Vandenberg, SLC-4. That includes booster landings at both launch sites as well as droneships downrange.
“The Proposed Action is needed to meet current and near-term U.S. government space launch…
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