Recent Activity
Record commercial SSO cadence through 2025 driven by Starlink polar shells and Earth-observation customers; SLC-6 conversion for Vulcan Centaur completed 2025.
Investor Brief
America's monopoly site for polar and sun-synchronous launches — every U.S. Earth-observation, weather, and reconnaissance constellation transits here. Growing commercial SSO demand (Earth-observation startups, Starshield) makes Vandenberg a structurally undersupplied capacity story.
Ownership
Parent Entity
Regulatory Regime
Anchor Tenants
Latitude Advantage
Launch Azimuth Range
Employees
Country
🇺🇸United States
Region
North America
Established
1,957
Launches / Year
20+
Years Active
69
Strategic Position
34.7420° N, 120.5724° W
Azimuth: 147°–201° (SSO/polar; some retrograde inclinations possible)
34.7°N — high enough to give a clear southward Pacific corridor for polar/SSO without overflight risk; the only U.S. site that does this at scale.
Future Milestones
- 2026
Vulcan Centaur first operational NSSL launch from SLC-6
- 2026
NISAR (NASA-ISRO SAR) launch on GSLV from VAFB (planned cooperative window)
- 2027
Western Range automated flight safety baseline
About
Vandenberg Space Force Base on California's central coast is the primary U.S. launch site for polar and sun-synchronous orbit missions. Its southward launch corridor over the Pacific Ocean makes it ideal for reconnaissance satellites and Earth observation missions. SpaceX operates SLC-4E here for Falcon 9 launches.
Key Features
Only U.S. site for polar and sun-synchronous orbital launches
Southward launch trajectory over the Pacific avoids populated areas
SpaceX SLC-4E supports high-cadence Falcon 9 operations
Critical for national security space launches and spy satellites
Home to Space Launch Delta 30
Rockets That Launch Here
Companies Operating Here
Orbit Types
Notable Launches
Discoverer 14 (1960) — First successful spy satellite recovery
Landsat 1 (1972) — First civilian Earth observation satellite
NROL missions — Classified national security payloads
Sentinel-6 (2020) — Sea-level monitoring satellite
DART (2021) — Planetary defense asteroid impact mission
Upcoming Launches From This Site
Next missions scheduled to fly from Vandenberg Space Force Base
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- NET
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- NET
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- NET
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- NET
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
Recent Launches From This Site
Most recent missions flown from Vandenberg Space Force Base
- Delta IV Heavy | NROL-82United Launch AllianceSuccess
- Firefly Alpha | FLTA001 (Maiden Flight)Firefly AerospaceFailure
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-87SpaceXSuccess
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 4-11SpaceXSuccess
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-85SpaceXSuccess
- Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 4-13SpaceXSuccess