Falcon 9 Operations in Vandenberg Boosted, Cape Canaveral May Follow

The Federal Aviation Administration recently took the Air Force’s advice and granted SpaceX a drastic increase in annual Falcon 9 operations out of Vandenberg Space Force Base. Now, a draft environmental assessment is in place to bring Cape Canaveral operations from 50 to 120 per year.

This re-drafted environmental assessment (EA) also includes plans to build a brand-new first-stage landing zone (LZ) directly adjacent to the pad, which would support up to 34 vertical touchdowns annually. The original virtual public meeting on the matter was derailed by a nationwide Zoom outage, but a rescheduled session will be held on May 8, and comments will remain open through May 15.

After 132 Falcon 9 launches in 2024, accounting for over half of all global orbital missions, the company now expects to hit 170 launches in 2025. For reference, this would be roughly one every two days. Nearly half of last year’s flights originated at Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), which has become the backbone of Falcon 9’s operations.

A slight issue with the current situation is that Space Launch Delta 45, which oversees the Eastern Range, plans to let SpaceX’s current LZ-1 and LZ-2 landing permits expire this July. It also requires landing zones to be co-located with launch pads. So SpaceX’s new landing pad proposal at SLC-40 isn’t just convenient—it’s necessary.

Out west, plans are also in motion to continue increasing Falcon 9’s presence at Vandenberg. The Air Force is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to redevelop Space Launch Complex 6, which could allow up to 100 Falcon 9 launches annually from California.

Also in the mix, the FAA recently received a final report from an industry committee on future human spaceflight occupant safety regulations. However, due to a federal moratorium, it still can’t actually regulate passenger safety. That moratorium is set to expire in January 2028, assuming Congress doesn’t kick the can downrange yet again.

FMI: www.spacex.com