A busy Vandenberg Space Force Base is about to get even busier. 

That’s what Col. James “Jim” Horne, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, revealed Friday night during the Mission Update presentation where he spoke about upcoming activities, answered questions and listened to concerns.

“You are witnessing the new space race. Some of you remember or were around for the first space race. That’s where we’re at right now. This is the second space race,” he said. “Our adversaries understand the strategic strength that we get from space and what that provides us.”

Approximately 100 people attended the debut Mission Update talk at Lompoc’s Dick DeWees Community & Senior Center. Horne’s talk was followed by a presentation about the ongoing pioneering rocket launch noise study.

Vandenberg has seen a 1,300% increase in the number of launches since 2019, he said, recalling a previous assignment at Vandenberg when nine launches was deemed a busy year. 

But the base has been busier.

In 1964, Vandenberg conducted 123 launches. Horne told the room “that’s exactly where we’re headed.”

“My point is we’ve done this before,” he said. “We haven’t broken our all-time record yet.”

By 2028, the number of launches at Vandenberg could top 100, including various types of rockets and missiles.

The boost in launch activity at Vandenberg and its Florida counterparts comes amid an effort to keep up with capabilities and stay ahead of adversaries to protect the United States, he added. 

Friday night’s presentation occurred hours after an early-morning liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that delivered 25 Starlink satellites into orbit, a launch time Vandenberg tries to avoid. 

“We are prioritizing launches to the maximum extent possible for the daytime,” Horne said, adding that some missions need to occur at night due to orbital mechanics and where the satellites need to be placed in space.

“Believe me, it’s something we take very seriously,” he added.

Vandenberg has launched a partnership with Brigham Young University and California State University, Bakersfield to study noise generated by rocket launches. 

“We’re monitoring every launch from a noise perspective. We’re building our models and getting much more sophisticated about the science behind this, and the analysis we put into it to continue to protect you and minimize our impact on the environment,” Horne said. 

Lompoc resident Janet Blevins said her 40-year-old house “shakes and shakes and shakes” with every launch, with cracks on the foundation and driveway growing. 

“I feel like I need to be remunerated somehow for the damage being done to my home,” Blevins said.

“SpaceX could afford to rebuild my house entirely and everybody else’s in the community,” she added as some audience members laughed.

Vandenberg representatives said people who believe they have experienced launch-related damage can submit claims at vandenberg.spaceforce.mil.

As the third largest base in the Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg encompasses 184 square miles, or 118,000 acres, with 46 miles of coastline.

It provides a $5.5 billion impact on the local economy. The base workforce stands at 10,000 people daily, which includes military members, government civilian employees and contractors. 

“We anticipate over the next 10 years we could double in size with just the number of workforce and then the missions they bring with them. That’s a combination of new missions coming to Vandenberg, expansion of our launch pads and providers and services that they will bring to orbit,” Horne said, adding a lack of housing for future employees remains a concern.

The increase is expected across all missions conducted at Vandenberg. Other activities include tracking satellites and the training of some space and missile personnel. 

“We’re not just a launch base. We have a very diverse mission,” he said.

That boost in activity won’t only include rocket launches and missile tests. A new Homeland Defense mission will bring fighter jets to Vandenberg’s skies and airfield periodically.

“And you’ll see (that) here very shortly in the next few weeks operating in the area,” he said.

Vandenberg has had one of the military’s longest paved runways — built for the West Coast space shuttle program, which ended before any launches or landings.

Other audience members asked whether the Central Coast would be vulnerable during a war due to Vandenberg. 

“No ma’am, you’re safe,” Horne said. “We’re heavily protected, and we continue to double down that protection so you are safe.”

Another man expressed concern about whether ICBM testing could be mistaken as an attack by another nation.

But the U.S. has a long-standing practice dating back to the Cold War era of notifying other nations about planned tests to avoid miscommunication. Likewise, the U.S. receives alerts about other countries’ launch plans.

The Friday night presentation marked the first in a new Mission Update speaker series conducted by Vandenberg officials. Other sessions are planned for the Santa Barbara and Ojai areas. Dates and locations for those presentations had not been confirmed yet.