An increase in SpaceX launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base and confusion about impacts on coastal access has led to measures to avoid temporary closures of nearby beaches and further review by a state panel.

Providing an exclamation point on the review, SpaceX launched its 12th mission of 2024 on Saturday night, days before the California Coastal Commission reviews the matter. The launch of 21 Starlink satellites, including six for the direct-to-cell service, occurred at 7:25 p.m. Saturday.

The item will be taken up during the commission’s meeting starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Long Beach when commissioners will hear about additional environmental monitoring and other measures planned in the wake of the increased launch rate.

In December, Coastal Commission members voted to reopen the matter after the panel found that the Department of Air Force’s original negative declaration for the SpaceX launch activity was no longer applicable. 

For projects at the base, Vandenberg officials must determine if a project is consistent with the enforceable policies of the California Coastal Management  Program. Coastal commissioners then concur with the consistency determination. 

Last spring, in reviewing the increased activity from six to 36 launches and landings of the Falcon 9 rocket, Vandenberg officials revised the protocols to eliminate launch-related closures of Surf Beach and Ocean Beach County Park. 

Vandenberg officials also committed that closures at Jalama Beach County Park wouldn’t occur for more than 12 missions. 

However, Coastal Commission staff said they were surprised to learn the beach had already closed 15 times by early July 2023 with 20 additional launches planned in the year. That led to a decision to revisit the consistency determination.

The misunderstanding stems from the fact that one launch could prompt multiple closures if a mission is delayed due to unfavorable weather or technical troubles. 

“Further, Commission staff learned that public coastal access and recreation at Jalama Beach was being affected by more than just the temporary closure and evacuation of the beach and campground,” Coastal Commission staff said in a report ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.

Upon learning of a potential launch-related closure, Santa Barbara County Parks Department staff notifies people with reservations. Creating an inconvenience, a closure can require a 45-minute drive to Highway 1 and a several hours late at night or early in the morning to wait for the reopening.

Notifications also can lead to a 30% cancellation rate for camping reservations. Warnings are included in the online reservation system, but it’s hard to quantify the number who don’t bother to reserve a campsite due to the advisory.

“It is important to note the county has implemented these notification systems in order to communicate potential closures to the public and to help limit the frustration, disappointment and anger directed at their staff when they are called on to evacuate the public from Jalama Beach and campground,” Wesley Horn, Coastal Commission environmental scienctist, said at the December meeting.

In some instances Jalama Road closures also may be implemented to keep the number of day-use visitors at the beach lower when a launch occurs and avoid full evacuations. 

Col. Mark Shoemaker, Space Launch Delta 30 commander at Vandenberg, said in December that upon learning about this confusion regarding what constitutes a closure his staff met with county and SpaceX representatives. No evacuations had occurred through the end of the year, he said.

“For launches with the potential to impact Jalama Beach, we have shifted to night launches when the beach is largely unoccupied,” Shoemaker told commissioners.

However, this leads to a more significant cost for the U.S. government since employees must work outside of normal business hours. SpaceX also has to adjust the number of satellites per mission due to changed trajectory. 

“We’ve also targeted launch dates when the population of Jalama Beach is knowingly going to be lower and improved our coordination and communication with Santa Barbara,” Shoemaker added. 

And Assistant Parks Director Jeff Lindgren confirmed Jalama had not seen any temporary closures so far during 2024, adding his staff has been happy with changes setting a thresholds for the park population.

“We’ve been able to avoid evacuations for quite a few launches. It really helps when they launch in the winter, and  launch mid week  and launch at nighttime because that’s when our park populations are at lowest,” Lindgren said.

Talks continue about whether all evacuations can be further minimized to even eliminated, he said.

“It’s a complex discussion, and it’s taken quite some years to get to any point of mutual understanding,” Lindgren said. 

“Some good progress is being made on behalf of the public and public access,” he added.