What is the Vandenberg Space Force Base? 4 things to know about California rocket launches
The military base in Santa Barbara County is the only location in California to host rocket launches, including for both NASA and SpaceX.
Eric Lagatta- Established in 1941, the site was previously known as the Vandenberg Air Force Base.
- SpaceX's Starlink missions have become by far the most frequent and common rocket launches from the Southern California site.
- Because Vandenberg is an active military base, the launch complex does not host public viewings of launches. But plenty of places across Southern California could afford a view.
When spaceflight enthusiasts think about catching a rocket launch, the first place to come to mind, more than likely, is Florida.
The Sunshine State is brimming with a near-constant schedule of crewed and uncrewed launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, both located on Florida's Space Coast. Catching the sight of a SpaceX or NASA vehicle getting off the ground has become so popular among tourists, that the U.S. space agency even sells tickets for spectators.
But all the way across the U.S. on the West Coast, plenty of spaceflights are launching from California. In Santa Barbara County, a military base regularly hosts rocket launches that span the civil and commercial arenas.
Rocket launches have become so well-known that spectators have established popular locations in both Southern California and neighboring Arizona to watch the spacecraft soar into orbit.
Here's everything to know about the Vandenberg Space Force Base, the only site for rocket launches in California.
What is the Vandenberg Space Force Base?
The Vandenberg Space Force Base is a rocket launch site in Santa Barbara County in Southern California.
Established in 1941, the site was previously known as the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Though it's a military base, the site also hosts both civil and commercial space launches for entities like NASA and SpaceX.
Space Launch Delta 30, a unit of the U.S. Space Force, is responsible for managing the launch operations at Vandenberg, as well as the missile tests that take place at the base.
How many rocket launches take place in California?
Vandenberg hosts a regular cadence of weekly rocket launches, most from its Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E.)
SpaceX conducted all five of the rocket launches in July from the Vandenberg Space Force Base – all but one of which was a Starlink mission to deploy internet satellites into orbit. What's more, all of the spaceflights occurred in the second half of the month following about a two-week break in July for routine maintenance at the launch complex where SpaceX missions get off the ground
This year, the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, gave SpaceX the greenlight to increase its Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg from 36 per year to 50 – a development that hasn't been welcome news to all Californians.
But it's not just SpaceX that launches from Vandenberg.
NASA contracts with SpaceX to use the company's Falcon 9 rocket to get the agency's own missions off the ground. For instance, in July, a Falcon 9 rocket propelled two science satellites into orbit for the TRACERS mission, while in March, the rocket boosted both NASA's SPHEREx space telescope and small sun-observing PUNCH satellites into orbit following a launch from the base.
In June, SpaceX also used its Falcon 9 for Transporter 14 – a rideshare mission to deliver 70 payloads for paying customers into orbit, including a spacecraft carrying the remains of 166 individuals for Houston company Celestis' most recent memorial spaceflight.
Other spaceflight companies also sometimes launch from the base, as happened in late-April when Texas spaceflight company Firefly Aerospace attempted to launch prototype satellites into orbit for Lockheed Martin.
SpaceX Falcon 9 delivers Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California
SpaceX's Starlink missions have become by far the most frequent and common rocket launches from Southern California.
The company's Famous two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world's most active, has become crucial in regularly deploying batches of the internet-beaming Starlink satellites into what's called low-Earth orbit – an altitude that allows for things like satellites to circle Earth fairly quickly.
Owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Starlink is a constellation of more than 7,000 satellites that provide internet service to customers around the world. SpaceX has spent more than six years delivering the satellites to orbit with a regular cadence of rocket launches from both Florida and California.
Following the delivery and deployment of the satellites from California, the Falcon 9 rocket's booster aims to land on a SpaceX drone ship, nicknamed "Of Course I Still Love You," in the Pacific Ocean. This allows for SpaceX personnel to recover the booster so it can be reused in future spaceflights.
Where to see rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California
Because Vandenberg is an active military base, the launch complex does not host public viewings of launches.
But if conditions are clear, rocket launches from the Vandenberg Space Force Base can be viewed from several locations as far as Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
The city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County is filled with places to catch a rocket launch. The city's tourism bureau, Explore Lompoc, even maintains a list with suggested viewing locations.
This article has been updated to add new information.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]m