{"id":484677,"date":"2026-02-22T23:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484677\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T23:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:49:15","slug":"amid-new-space-race-vandenberg-revs-up-activity-local-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484677\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid New Space Race, Vandenberg Revs Up Activity | Local News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A busy Vandenberg Space Force Base<\/a> is about to get even busier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Col. James \u201cJim\u201d Horne, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, revealed Friday night during the Mission Update presentation where he spoke about upcoming activities, answered questions and listened to concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are witnessing the new space race. Some of you remember or were around for the first space race. That\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now. This is the second space race,\u201d he said. \u201cOur adversaries understand the strategic strength that we get from space and what that provides us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Approximately 100 people attended the debut Mission Update talk at Lompoc\u2019s Dick DeWees Community & Senior Center. Horne\u2019s talk was followed by a presentation about the ongoing pioneering rocket launch noise study.<\/p>\n

Vandenberg has seen a 1,300% increase in the number of launches since 2019, he said, recalling a previous assignment at Vandenberg when nine launches was deemed a busy year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the base has been busier. <\/p>\n

In 1964, Vandenberg conducted 123 launches. Horne told the room \u201cthat\u2019s exactly where we\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy point is we\u2019ve done this before,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t broken our all-time record yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 2028, the number of launches at Vandenberg could top 100, including various types of rockets and missiles.<\/p>\n

The boost in launch activity at Vandenberg and its Florida counterparts comes amid an effort to keep up with capabilities and stay ahead of adversaries to protect the United States, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friday night\u2019s presentation occurred hours after an early-morning liftoff of a SpaceX<\/a> Falcon 9 rocket that delivered 25 Starlink satellites into orbit, a launch time Vandenberg tries to avoid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are prioritizing launches to the maximum extent possible for the daytime,\u201d Horne said, adding that some missions need to occur at night due to orbital mechanics and where the satellites need to be placed in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve me, it\u2019s something we take very seriously,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Vandenberg has launched a partnership with Brigham Young University<\/a> and California State University, Bakersfield <\/a>to study noise generated by rocket launches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring every launch from a noise perspective. We\u2019re building our models and getting much more sophisticated about the science behind this, and the analysis we put into it to continue to protect you and minimize our impact on the environment,\u201d Horne said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lompoc resident Janet Blevins said her 40-year-old house \u201cshakes and shakes and shakes\u201d with every launch, with cracks on the foundation and driveway growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I need to be remunerated somehow for the damage being done to my home,\u201d Blevins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpaceX could afford to rebuild my house entirely and everybody else\u2019s in the community,\u201d she added as some audience members laughed.<\/p>\n

Vandenberg representatives said people who believe they have experienced launch-related damage can submit claims at vandenberg.spaceforce.mil<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Early Saturday morning, a Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base to deliver 25 Starlink satellites into orbit. Hours earlier, Col. James \u201cJim\u201d Horne, Space Launch Delta 30 commander, spoke Friday about the efforts to avoid middle-of-the-night liftoffs when possible. Credit: Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

As the third largest base in the Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg encompasses 184 square miles, or 118,000 acres, with 46 miles of coastline. <\/p>\n

It provides a $5.5 billion impact on the local economy. The base workforce stands at 10,000 people daily, which includes military members, government civilian employees and contractors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe anticipate over the next 10 years we could double in size with just the number of workforce and then the missions they bring with them. That\u2019s a combination of new missions coming to Vandenberg, expansion of our launch pads and providers and services that they will bring to orbit,\u201d Horne said, adding a lack of housing for future employees remains a concern.<\/p>\n

The increase is expected across all missions conducted at Vandenberg. Other activities include tracking satellites and the training of some space and missile personnel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just a launch base. We have a very diverse mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That boost in activity won\u2019t only include rocket launches and missile tests.\u00a0A new Homeland Defense mission will bring fighter jets to Vandenberg\u2019s skies and airfield periodically.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019ll see (that) here very shortly in the next few weeks operating in the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Vandenberg has had one of the military\u2019s longest paved runways \u2014 built for the West Coast space shuttle program, which ended before any launches or landings.<\/p>\n

Other audience members asked whether the Central Coast would be vulnerable during a war due to Vandenberg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo ma\u2019am, you\u2019re safe,\u201d Horne said. \u201cWe\u2019re heavily protected, and we continue to double down that protection so you are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another man expressed concern about whether ICBM testing could be mistaken as an attack by another nation. <\/p>\n

But the\u00a0U.S. has a long-standing practice dating back to the Cold War era of notifying other nations about planned tests to avoid miscommunication. Likewise, the U.S. receives alerts about other countries\u2019 launch plans.<\/p>\n

The Friday night presentation marked the first in a new Mission Update speaker series conducted by Vandenberg officials. Other sessions are planned for the Santa Barbara and Ojai areas. Dates and locations for those presentations had not been confirmed yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A busy Vandenberg Space Force Base is about to get even busier.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Col. James \u201cJim\u201d Horne,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[983,79,193],"class_list":["post-484677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-local-news","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}