Our view: Coastal Commission hurts Central Coast future as space hub
When the California Coastal Commission voted 11-0 against a proposal to double the number of SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, it knew its actions were useless and subject to a U.S. Department of the Air Force override.
And that’s exactly what will happen. The Commission’s logic was that SpaceX is a private company that will use most of the launches to build out its Starlink network and therefore was for the use of a private enterprise and not permissible due to noise from launches and sonic booms and other concerns.
That’s a very weak argument for symbolically spurning billions of dollars and potentially thousands of jobs in the Lompoc and Greater Santa Maria area.
And it is also an example of the sort of government overreach that draws howls of protest from Sacramento when the Trump Administration puts federal troops in our cities and forces our farmworkers into hiding.
Vandenberg Space Force Base is a sort of public utility when it comes to commercial launches. Any company with the wherewithal should be able to use it for legal purposes and, indeed, United Launch Alliance, Boeing and others are free to use it.
That’s the beauty of public-private partnerships like the one between SpaceX and the Air Force. The commission may not like SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s antisemitic outbursts or his controversial DOGE experiments in cutting government spending.
But he has the world’s most successful rocket company, Starlink is an effective communications network and SpaceX should be able to launch 95 Falcon 9’s a year as long as they do not crowd out or disrupt the military launches at Vandenberg that are vital to the national defense. By the way, SpaceX is going to spend billions on new facilities to rescue and refurbish reusable launch vehicles, and it will likely hire and train hundreds of local residents in the process.
We’re certain of one thing. The Coastal Commission can find better things to do than to impotently stand against perhaps the most important economic development opportunity for the Lompoc-Santa Maria area in decades.
EMBARKING ON A NEW ENDEAVOR
Former Santa Barbara Zoo President and CEO Rich Block has returned to the animal kingdom.
In an email, he said he was ending his brief “retirement” to join The Cheetah Conservation Fund U.S. as head of its American operations. Although technically based in the Washington, D.C. area, Block will operate mainly out of his home in Santa Barbara.
Block, who stepped down after a quarter-century at the Zoo, said his new role was an “incredible opportunity” to serve “this iconic international wildlife organization.” Dr. Laurie Marker, founder and executive director, launched the fund in 1990 with a mission to find innovative solutions to protecting cheetahs and their ecosystems. It has restored thousands of acres of Namibian farmland and worked to educate African farmers in techniques to preserve local cheetah populations.
We can’t wait to hear more about this fascinating new gig. Godspeed.
