LOS ANGELES (KEYT) – SpaceX and the California Coastal Commission have agreed to settle a lawsuit that requires the state regulator to apologize for making politically biased statements against the space-focused company's leadership after rejecting an increase in local rocket launches last year.
"The [California Coastal] Commission agrees that it may not consider irrelevant factors in performing its function and specifically agrees that it will not take into account the perceived political beliefs, political speech, or labor practices of SpaceX or its officers in considering any regulatory action concerning SpaceX," stated the settlement filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California this week. "The Commission acknowledges that Commissioners made statements, including during their October 10, 2024, hearing on the Base’s Falcon 9 launch program, that showed political bias against SpaceX and its Chief Executive Officer and were improper."
In October of last year, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) filed a lawsuit in federal court contesting the decision by the state regulator to reject to an increase in launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
According to the suit filed late last year, SpaceX leases the land used for rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, but, notably, the U.S. Air Force, "retains ultimate authority over the use of the land and launch facilities".
That distinction between a private company's commercial launches and a federal agency's launches matters.
SpaceX is one of the few U.S.-based launch service providers currently certified to launch national security missions through the National Security Space Launch program.
A federal consistency determination is a state-level decision concerning federal actions that impact local coastal zones and determines the extent of the Coastal Commission's authority over federal agency actions.
The image below, courtesy of the California Coastal Commission, shows the inland extent of the Coastal Zone in Santa Barbara County as the blue line.
While federal agencies, such as the U.S. Space Force, can avoid the usual permitting process through the California Coastal Commission as long as they agree to a mitigation agreement, private companies are subject to the California Coastal Act that requires permitting or permission from the Commission which regulates the coastal zone statewide.
The Commission's vote to reject the increase in launches was an escalation of the Coastal Commission's efforts to require SpaceX specifically to apply for a coastal development permit regarding its commercial launches.
While Falcon 9 boosters launch Defense Department materials into space, most launches are for Starlink satellites and, as the Coastal Commission posited, tied to a private commercial activity outside of supporting a federal agency action.
"Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] while claiming his desire to help hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet," stated California Coastal Commissioner Gretchen Newsom at the time.
The Coastal Commission argued that it should be able to require SpaceX to meet additional requirements, such as applying for a coastal development permit, much like other private companies that do work in the coastal region in the state.
According to a statement sent to Your News Channel in November of last year from the California Coastal Commission, "The decision to deny an increase in rocket launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base was motivated by several factors. However, the primary concern articulated by the Commissioners at Thursday's public hearing was that SpaceX, as a private company, should itself be applying for a coastal development permit under California state law."
The October suit noted that the Coastal Commission had not previously contested that commercial space launches from the local space force base are federal agency activities since launches started in 1972, but, since December of 2023, "the Commission has repeatedly asserted that the Base's Falcon 9 launch program is not federal agency activity and demanded that SpaceX obtain a CDP [coastal development permit] to conduct Falcon launches."
Before the six-to-four decision against the United States Air Force's proposal to increase launches from 36 to 50 per year on Oct. 10, 2025, members of the Commission specifically cited SpaceX and the actions and statements of its principal owner and CEO, Elon Musk, for their decision.
"The concern is with SpaceX increasing its launches, not with the other companies increasing their launches," stated Commission Chair Hart during the October hearing.
The pace is a notable increase compared to the 51 launches out of the space force base in 2024, the most launches since 1974.
The October decision came after SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk joined Presidential candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
"This company [SpaceX] is owned by the richest person in the world [Elon Musk] with direct control of what could be the most expansive communications system in the planet," said California Coastal Commissioner Mike Wilson. "Just last week that person was talking about political retribution."
In January of this year, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed to have the lawsuit dropped and U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. dismissed the SpaceX lawsuit in March noting that because the Air Force overruled the Coastal Commission's decision and launches continued unabated, no harms could be found.
The settlement this week clarified that the Coastal Commission can not require SpaceX to apply for a coastal development permit for activities covered by current or future federal government consistency determinations.
"This Agreement does not address whether the Commission may require a CDP [coastal development permit] for other on-Base activities that may constitute 'development' within the meaning of the Coastal Act, such as development of other launch complexes, as to which the Parties reserve their rights," noted Tuesday's agreement.
That limitation from the settlement could come into play as the local spaceport prepares to support not only an increase in launches, but an entirely new type of booster.
In October of last year, the Department of the Air Force released its final environmental impact statement (EIS) which reviewed the potential cumulative effect of an anticipated 100 launches per year of Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy rockets from Vandenberg Space Force Base along 15 unique evaluation categories including air, water, and soil quality as well as noise and socioeconomic impact.
In the assessment, the Department of Air Force selected Alternative 1 which would require SpaceX to construct a new, approximately 62,000 square foot hanger to support the integration of both additional launches and the use of Falcon 9 Heavy rockets for the first time from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
A comparison of the Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy boosters are shown below, courtesy of the EIS.
The plan would also require SpaceX to redevelop Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) with commodity storage tanks, a vehicle erector, water towers, ground supporting equipment, a transport road with a rail system, and two new launch pads.
Currently, most launches have been from Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4), such as today's launch, but the modifications to the current launch area would not meet the necessary launch capacity and would also disrupting current mission timelines, including missions on behalf of the Department of Defense.
The construction required to accomodate the increased launches and updated launch platform is currently estimated to take about 18 months with the majority of major demolitions and construction happening in the first 12 months.
Image from Department of the Air Force's Final Environmental Impact Statement.The Department of Air Force noted that while launch operation windows could still occur at any time, the federal agency is working to limit launch times to between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
An estimated launch cadence from the Air Force's Environmental Impact StatementThe Department of Air Force noted that there are currently no significance thresholds established for space launch greenhouse gas emissions, the Federal Aviation Administration has not identified specific factors that need to be considered in making those threshold determinations yet, and emissions assumptions were based on engine-specific emissions factors.
A comparison of the assumed annual emissions from the increase in launches courtesy of the Department of the Air ForceIn December of last year, the impact of noise from space launches was included for the first time in federal legislation.
As a result, the environmental assessment from the Department of Air Force included the expectation of how much rocket noise would increase, especially with the inclusion of Falcon 9 Heavy rockets from SLC-6 which are compared to the current Falcon 9 in the images below.
In addition to the impact on the surrounding environment and community, the Department of the Air Force calculated the economic impact of having one of the nation's two spaceports in their final environmental impact statement.
According to the Department of the Air Force, the cumulative economic impact of the space force base on the state is over $1.75 billion per year with an annual direct impact in Santa Barbara County of $500 million.
Vandenberg Space Force Base is one of the largest employers in the county with over 6,000 active duty servicemembers and civilian employees, but according to the environmental assessment, SpaceX does not plan to add any additional staff to its current 400 permanent staff under the proposal.
"In the event of a disagreement between the Parties concerning the interpretation or performance of any aspect of this Agreement, the dissatisfied Party shall provide the other Parties with written notice of the dispute and a request for negotiations," detailed Tuesday's settlement agreement between SpaceX and the Coastal Commission. "If, after 30 days of transmittal of written notice of the dispute, a Party concludes that the Parties have reached an impasse, then any Party may file a motion to interpret, terminate, enforce, or modify the Agreement [in federal court]."
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