The California Coastal Commission unanimously votes against increasing Falcon 9 launches to 100 per year. A US military loophole will probably allow them anyway.
lifornia commission has again shot down a proposal to increase Starlink satellite launches from a local base — but it appears SpaceX and the US military don’t care.
On Thursday, the California Coastal Commission unanimously rejected a US Space Force request to boost the number of Falcon 9 launches from 36 to 100 per year at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The decision arrives nearly a year after the commission denied an earlier proposal to increase the launches from 36 to 50 by partly citing SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s controversial politics and business practices. In response, Musk sued over alleged political discrimination.
At Thursday’s hearing, neither SpaceX nor US Space Force representatives showed up, likely because the military sidestepped the commission by classifying the Falcon 9 launches as a federal activity. The launches at Vandenberg base have involved both Starlink and Starshield, a military-grade version of the satellite internet service.
The Department of the Air Force has since cleared SpaceX to increase the number of Falcon 9 launches to 50, citing “no significant impact” on the local environment.
