The California Coastal Commission on Thursday voted against a proposal by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to almost double its permitted annual Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, raising the limit from 50 to 95.
As with a similar vote last October when the panel opposed an increase from 36 to 50 launches-the decision can be overridden by the U.S. government. The U.S. Department of the Air Force, which oversees the Space Force, maintains that the expansion is a federal matter exempt from state regulation.
A commission staff report noted that of the 51 rockets launched from Vandenberg last year, 46 were SpaceX Falcon 9s. While some flights support U.S. defence and NASA missions, most of the proposed increase would serve SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The company is also seeking to expand launch operations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Air Force officials did not attend Thursday’s meeting in Calabasas, where the panel voted 11-0 against the plan. Neither SpaceX nor the Air Force provided immediate comment. SpaceX has sued the commission over its earlier objections, alleging the agency targeted the company in retaliation for Musk’s political views.
The new plan calls for up to 95 Falcon 9 launches a year, five Falcon Heavy launches, and up to 24 landings of reusable boosters- double the current approval along with two new landing pads and more at-sea landings. Commission staff recommended rejection, citing a lack of detailed information, concerns over noise and wildlife disruption from increased sonic booms, and the impact of more frequent closures of nearby public beaches and campgrounds within launch hazard zones.
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A landslide on the French Pacific island of Tahiti has claimed at least seven lives, with several others reported missing, local authorities confirmed on Thursday.
magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Susitna, northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in the West Bank during a raid, despite the men appearing to surrender and being unarmed.
Pope Leo continued his visit to Türkiye in Istanbul on Thursday (27 November), following a round of meetings in Ankara. This marks his first trip outside Italy since being elected in May as the leader of the 1.4-billion-strong Catholic Church.
Venezuela says it has deployed a range of weapons, including decades-old Russian-made equipment, and plans to mount guerrilla-style resistance in the event of an air or ground assault particularly from the U.S.
A passenger aircraft from Polish carrier LOT veered off a taxiway at Lithuania's Vilnius airport after arriving from Warsaw on Wednesday, halting all traffic, the airport operator said.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region erupted on Sunday morning (23 November), covering nearby villages in ash.
At least 36 people have died in a fire that ravaged a residential apartment complex on Wednesday according to John Lee the chief executive of Hong Kong.
Netflix crashed on Wednesday for about an hour in the U.S. as it launched season five of "Stranger Things", with the service becoming inaccessible to many subscribers within minutes of the episodes going live at 8 p.m. local time.
Russia successfully launched a military satellite into space on Wednesday (November 26) from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, marking another milestone in the country's expanding space capabilities.
China's first emergency space launch entered orbit after blasting off on Tuesday, as the country looks to plug safety risks at its crewed space station after a vessel was damaged in orbit earlier this month.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a new federal programme to accelerate American artificial intelligence research and applications.
Audi has unveiled the car that marks its first major step into Formula One. It presented the 2026 challenger at a launch event in Munich attended by drivers, team leaders and senior company executives.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has launched NASA’s twin ESCAPADE satellites to Mars on Sunday, marking the second flight of its New Glenn rocket, a mission seen as a crucial test of the company’s reusability ambitions and a fresh challenge to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
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