By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The California Coastal Commission voted on Thursday against a plan by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to nearly double the number of Falcon 9 rocket launches the company is permitted to conduct each year from Vandenberg Space Force Base, from 50 to 95.
But as was the case when the commission voted last October to oppose a previous SpaceX launch expansion from 36 to 50 at the installation, the U.S. government can merely override the objections of California regulators and approve the latest plan.
The U.S. Department of the Air Force, parent agency of the Space Force, has taken the position that the proposed launch expansion at Vandenberg, about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Santa Barbara on the central California coast, is a federal activity exempt from further state oversight.
A commission staff report countered that of 51 rockets launched last year from Vandenberg, SpaceX Falcon 9s accounted for 46 of them.
While SpaceX flies some missions for the Defense Department and NASA, the enlarged launch operations SpaceX envisions are primarily for carrying payloads for the company’s own Starlink satellite network, the report said.
SpaceX also has sought to expand its launch facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Air Force officials did not attend Thursday’s commission meeting in Calabasas, north of Los Angeles, where the panel voted 11-0 against SpaceX.
Neither representatives for SpaceX nor the Air Force could immediately be reached for comment. SpaceX has sued the California Coastal Commission over its previous objections, accusing the agency of singling out Musk’s company for greater regulation in retaliation for his political views.
In addition to allowing as many as 95 launches a year by the company’s workhorse Falcon 9, the new plan would permit up to five Falcon Heavy rocket launches annually, and up to 24 landings by the company’s reusable rocket boosters, twice as many as previously approved. Two new landing zones at the base would also be built. At-sea landings would also be increased.
In recommending disapproval, commission staff cited what it called insufficient information about the plan and concerns over noise pollution and wildlife disturbance from more frequent, louder sonic booms as SpaceX launch activity escalates.
The staff report also cited the need for more frequent closures of public beaches and campgrounds that lie within the launch hazard zones around the base.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sonali Paul)
