California Coastal Commission members agreed Thursday that they lacked critical information to determine whether the proposal to double SpaceX rocket launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base is consistent with state rules, but the vote isn’t expect to halt the increase.
On Thursday, the commission considered the Department of the Air Force item related to a SpaceX plan to use a second launch facility at Vandenberg for both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The proposal also would add two first-stage booster landing sites at Space Launch Complex-6.
The military had deemed the project consistent with the California Coastal Management Program and sought the state panel’s concurrence. Instead, the California Coastal Commission unanimously objected with its vote.
SpaceX and the U.S. Space Force seek to push the Falcon 9 launches from the West Coast to 95, plus another five missions for the Falcon Heavy rocket.
“There are a number of unanswered questions that make it really quite impossible for us to engage,” said vice chair Caryl Hart, filling in for chair Meagan Harmon, who declared a possible conflict and did not participate in the discussion or vote Thursday on the item.
Commissioners expressed concern about inadequate information on noise impacts to marine mammals and terrestrial animals, water quality and supply, the type and quality of emissions, and more.
Neither the military nor SpaceX attended the meeting in person or virtually.
After the vote, staff noted that the commission’s action is essentially moot.
The military has the ability, despite the commission’s decision Thursday, to determine that the project is consistent with the state’s Coastal Management Program and proceed with the activity after notifying the California agency via a letter.
“Effectively, the result of this vote does not prevent SpaceX from continuing launch activities,” Cassidy Teufel, deputy director of the California Coastal Commission, said Thursday afternoon.
More than a dozen people spoke out against the proposal, including Ana Citrin, the legal and policy director for the Gaviota Coast Conservancy.
“We recognize that a robust space program can benefit our national security and economic competitiveness, but it’s important that activities at Vandenberg are carried out in a manner that preserves the ecological integrity of the base and the broader Gaviota coast,” Citrin said.
The main concern centers on how the existing frequency of launch noise and sonic booms affects various species, she said, ticking off several, including the Western snowy plover, the California red-legged frog, the harbor seal, the monarch butterfly and more.
That information would be key for crafting mitigation measures to reduce any impacts, she added.
However, some supporters of the increase in launches provided written comments to the California Coastal Commission, urging it to “please do not let luddites put a stop to the future” in supporting more launches and more space programs.
Military representatives and the commission continue to disagree about whether the launches should be handled as federal activity or private operation, a distinction that would determine whether Falcon launches should be subject to the rigorous and time-consuming process of obtaining a Coastal Development Permit.
To bolster the argument that the activity should fall under a federal activity, the Coastal Commission staff contended that SpaceX operates from the Vandenberg launch site under a lease with the government and obtains various licenses and authorizations from federal, state and local public agencies.
The commission took a similar action last fall when reviewing the proposal to increase launches from 36 to 50 a year. Despite the commission’s vote, SpaceX ended 2024 with 46 Falcon rocket launches from Vandenberg.
With more than four months left in 2025, SpaceX already has launched 32 Falcon rockets from the West Coast.
This fall, authorities expect to release a final environmental impact statement and identify the preferred alternative following meetings earlier this summer for the proposed launch increase.
The issue about whether rocket launches should be designated as federal activity also sits at the heart of a lawsuit filed by SpaceX against the California Coastal Commission in the weeks after the commision’s previous objection to the military’s consistency determination.
Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration announced this week that President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at streamlining regulations and fostering the commercial space industry.
The order looks to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for launch and re-entry licenses and permits plus to assess whether states are hindering spaceport infrastructure development or limiting spaceport development that are inconsistent with federal law.