California’s Decision on Vandenberg Rocket Launches Raises National Security Issues

Why Vandenberg’s Rocket Launch Expansion is Critical for U.S. Defense

A U.S government official cautions about the security implications stemming from a recent decision made in California.

Retired Major General Thomas Taverney expressed concern in an article, for SpaceNews that the California Coastal Commissions denial of the U.S Space Forces Vandenberg Space Force Bases request to increase rocket launch frequency could jeopardize security.

According to Taverneys perspective he believes that the choice favors China and Russia by restricting Americas capacity to increase the frequency of rocket launches, which's crucial for national defense. "The fact is that our opponents now pose an immediate risk to our national security validating the necessity for a robust defensive stance in space along with the vital access, to space facilitated by Vandenberg Base " stressed the retired officer.

The Role of Vandenberg in U.S. Space Force Operations

The U.S Space Force is planning to enhance its strategy by ramp up rocket launches from Vandenberg to support the deployment of spacecraft in orbits.The goal is to boost the frequency from 50 launches by 2024s end, to exceeding 100 in the upcoming years.

Taverney also mentions that the commission did not provide reasons for turning down Vandenberg’s request.He suggests that if the Space Force breached any rules punishments would be justifiable—but none were enforced.Additionally Taverney rejects the idea that SpaceXs Starlink satellite launchesre solely for business purposes citing the militarys active deployment of these satellites, for defense operations.

Thomas Taverney’s Perspective: Adversaries Gain from the Decision

In an article on Ars Technica by Eric Berger it was suggested that Russias space agency Roscosmos is significantly behind SpaceX by almost 15 years, in terms of reusable rocket technologies.