More rocket launches could soon be coming to the southern coast of California.
The U.S. Space Force, which oversees the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, announced plans for another spaceflight company to move into a new launch site.
Because it’s so early in the process, the Space Force is only seeking responses from launch service providers that would be interested in leasing the site. Whichever company is selected, though, would join rocket companies like Blue Origin and the United Launch Alliance that look to make their West Coast launch debut in the years ahead.
This project, which the Space Force expects to bring new jobs to the region, is part of a “strategic priority” providing a “significant opportunity for industry leaders to contribute to the growth of the U.S. space launch sector while supporting critical national security objectives,” Col. James Horne III, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, said in a statement.
Here’s what we know so far.
Vandenberg offers new launch site for small, medium rockets
Space Force released a request for information, or RFI in June seeking interest in an area identified as Space Launch Complex 9, located in the northern region of the Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Because of its proximity to “established infrastructure,” the site has been identified as a viable location for small and medium-class rocket to launch, the Space Force said in a June 8 press release.
The Space Force is soliciting responses within 30 days from spaceflight companies with an interest in leasing space at the site, where they could construct and operate facilities dedicated to launching rockets. The intention is that the launch service provider selected to lease the site could begin operations within three years, according to the Space Force.
What is the Vandenberg Space Force Base?
The Vandenberg Space Force Base is a rocket launch site in Santa Barbara County in Southern California.
Established in 1941, the site – managed by Space Launch Delta 30, a unit of Space Force – was previously known as the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Though it’s a military base, the growing site leases facilities to commercial spaceflight companies like SpaceX, which provide launch services to government and private customers.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX most active launch provider in California
SpaceX, which leases Space Launch Complex 4-East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg, is by far the most active launch provider on the West Coast.
The spaceflight company, which tech entrepreneur Elon Musk founded in 2002, regularly gets its Falcon 9 rocket off the ground from the site.
Most of SpaceX’s missions in California are to deploy the company’s Starlink broadband internet satellites into its massive constellation in low-Earth orbit – a region closer to the planet’s atmosphere. But SpaceX also provides launch services to paying customers, including the U.S. military, NASA and other aerospace companies, to deliver other kinds of payloads into space.
Texas-based Firefly Aerospace and Virginia-based Northrop Grumman are also already active in California.
Blue Origin plans to launch New Glenn at Vandenberg
Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, also has plans to expand its rocket launch operations to the West Coast.
In May, Vandenberg announced that it had reached an agreement with Blue Origin for the company to lease a new launch complex, SLC-14, located at the southernmost point of the base. Though the site is years away from being ready, it will eventually support Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, a towering heavy-lift class vehicle.
The 322-foot rocket is the same that at the end of May exploded in a dramatic fireball at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, damaging Blue Origin’s launch pad. New Glenn, which Blue Origin has launched three times since January 2025, is most prominently being developed to launch lunar landers toward the moon under NASA’s Artemis program.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: New rocket launch site could boost West Coast role in US spaceflight
Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
