Space Daily by Paul Brinkmann 6/1/2021
The state of California and Vandenberg Space Force Base are planning and building new infrastructure to capture more of the growing commercial space launch business.
Vandenberg has never been as busy as the primary U.S. spaceports in Florida -- Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. But now SpaceX and several other launch companies plan to increase activity on the launch pads overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX will begin launching the company's Starlink satellites toward polar orbits from Vandenberg soon, Col. Anthony Mastalir, commander of Vandenberg's launch range and personnel, said in an interview.
"Just within the last couple of months, we've seen SpaceX put half a dozen Falcon 9 launches on the manifest to complete their Starlink constellation and hit the higher orbits they need to hit," Mastalir said.
Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has renovated a pad where it plans to launch the new Firefly Alpha rocket for the first time this summer.
Los Angeles-based Relativity Space also plans launches there, and just received $30 million in tax credits from the state, partly to create jobs and invest in launch infrastructure at Vandenberg.
More:
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/California_prepares_for_more_West_Coast_space_launches_999.html
