I never understood the point of the California Coastal Commission’s attempt to regulate federal agencies. Who reigns supreme?
Well, if it’s the Coastal Commission vs. the U.S. Department of Defense, I’ll let you guess the agency that gets to call the shots. If you think the commission is more powerful than the largest taxpayer-funded agency in the U.S., I’ll give you another try.
Vandenberg Space Force Base is asking the commission to “approve” an increase in annual rocket launches from SpaceX: from six annually to 36. The funny thing is that SpaceX—one of Elon Musk’s private companies—is already launching more than six rockets per year from Vandenberg. In 2023, SpaceX launched 28. So, does the base really need approval from the commission?
And although Vandenberg is “permitted” to launch 110 rockets per year through the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to the commission’s staff report, the Department of the Air Force has authorized 169 space launches annually from the base.
So, who’s in charge, really?
It’s not anybody but the Department of Defense. Vandenberg let it slip out that it plans to allow SpaceX to launch 100 rockets per year at some point in the future! And that’s just one of the companies it rents out launch pads to. In 2023, 37 rockets launched from Vandenberg, which impact more than just the base and the ocean.
So far in 2024, Santa Barbara County’s Jalama Beach—a county-operated beach, campground, store, and restaurant—has been closed and evacuated by SpaceX launches more than 12 times. That would really suck. Twelve is the maximum annual allowance the Department of Air Force committed to not exceeding, according to the commission.
Unsurprisingly, commissioners and commission staff are concerned.
“I’m especially concerned about the plan to increase to 100 launches. I see this taking a little and slowly increasing more and more when the private entity has already not adhered to federal consistency determinations we’ve had in the past,” Commissioner Kristina Kunkel said. “I don’t think SpaceX should be able to skirt the requirements of a CDP [coastal development permit].”
Renting space from an Air Force base has its perks. If at least 25 percent of the payloads SpaceX launches into the air are for Department of Defense business—and they are—then SpaceX doesn’t need a coastal development permit to do much of anything. Anyone not doing federal government business absolutely needs a coastal development permit.
So, what happens if the Coastal Commission decides it doesn’t like what Vandenberg, SpaceX, and their spacey colleagues are doing? What if the commission decides SpaceX needs a coastal development permit to conduct its launches?
The federal government can and will give the commission what amounts to a giant middle finger as it continues down the path it’s on anyway. At least this exercise in futility gives the public a peek into what’s going on at Vandenberg, a largely private-public enterprise with hush-hush activities.
If we’re to take anything from this little show, it’s gotta be that, right?
The Canary doesn’t trust the Department of Defense. Send peeks behind the curtain to [email protected].
