After three days of delays, a Falcon 9 rocket finally departed from Vandenberg Space Force Base Tuesday morning, the first of two Starlink launches planned for this week from the West Coast.
The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base at 7:45 a.m. with 27 Starlink satellites packed in the payload fairing, or nose cone.
About eight minutes later, the rocket’s first-stage booster completed its 10th landing by touching down on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship positioned in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX said the mission marked the 400th landing for the Falcon program.
Starlink satellite deployment occurred approximately one hour after liftoff, SpaceX said.
Another Starlink mission is scheduled for Friday at Vandenberg, according to notices warning pilots of the planned launch between 5:54 a.m. and 10:25 a.m. Launches can be delayed for multiple reasons.
The missions follow the announcement by U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, that he intends to introduce legislation to amend the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) limiting the scope of states’ authority to review certain activities.
Those include national security-related activities, critical infrastructure projects, and activities with high economic impact, including post-disaster recovery and rebuilding.
The announcement declared the legislation aimed “to rein in CA Coastal Commission abuses.”
“The Coastal Zone Management Act was never intended to allow state agencies to prioritize partisan considerations over national security and economic progress,” Kiley said in a written statement.
“The Commission’s vote to block additional launches at Vandenberg undermines our national defense readiness and threatens California’s leadership in aerospace innovation, and its history of irrational decision-making could threaten rebuilding efforts in the Los Angeles area. My legislation will ensure that critical projects are not held hostage by unnecessary red tape or political bias.”
Last year, some commissioners spoke out against SpaceX’s Elon Musk while voting against an increase in Falcon launches at Vandenberg from 36 to 50.
But Coastal Commission staff noted the agency lacked unilateral authority to stop the launches.
The dispute centers on how to view Falcon 9 missions — federal agency activity no matter what cargo it carries, or a private company’s activity benefiting a billionaire. Commissioners want SpaceX to obtain a Coastal Development Permit, a requirement the firm and military have rejected as not legal, too costly and very time-consuming.
After the vote, SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission in federal court.
By the end of 2024, 46 Falcon missions had occurred from Vandenberg of the 51 launches overall.