SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off April 2023 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Credit: SpaceX
Published by Space Report, 20 September 2024
SpaceX is expanding its facilities and renewing its lease at the Port of Long Beach to support its increasing launch cadence out of Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson announced the company’s investment at an economic development presentation Wednesday while discussing the city’s larger “Space Beach” initiative. Over the past decade, Long Beach has worked to retain established aerospace companies and make the city more attractive to startups.
“We’re seeing a consolidation into Long Beach, which I attribute to the ecosystem we have here: space companies, the history of advanced manufacturing, and the culture of ease, speed and predictability,” Richardson said.
No representatives from SpaceX were at the presentation, nor was any announcement posted to the SpaceX website or on X.
The mayor’s SpaceX announcement comes after news that the company plans to increase its launch cadence from Vandenberg. The Space Force Base projects nearly 60 launches this year and 70 in 2025. SpaceX aims to hit 90 launches from Vandenberg in 2026.
Expansion supports Falcon 9 operations
The West Coast rocket recovery operations for SpaceX are based out of the Port of Long Beach, which supports Falcon 9 launches. The SpaceX facilities on the port will expand from 6 acres to 15, including submerged land, dry land, office space and manufacturing space. SpaceX moved its West Coast operations to the Port of Long Beach in 2021, filling a facility previously operated by a commercial satellite launching company.
In the past five years, multiple space companies have either expanded in or moved to Long Beach. These include RocketLab, Vast, ExLabs, NovaWurks and Relativity Space.
“It’s hard to quantify, but the value of having your partners in the government really understand what’s important to you and your industry is super critical,” said Relativity Space chief revenue officer Josh Brost. “And when you have a whole collection of companies together talking about the same issues, it makes both sides of the conversation smarter, more efficient, and more adaptive.”
Read a feature-length report on the growing space industry in Long Beach in the Q2 edition of The Space Report, which is scheduled for release July 30.
See: Original Article
