/sci/ - Science & Math

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“The Eastern Range is almost done doing everything it can do,” he said. That has included allocating three unused launch pads in March to four companies developing small launch vehicles, with a second round planned for larger vehicles. “When that’s done, we’re going to be very, very close to out of pads on the Eastern Range.”

> That could open the door to more creative solutions. Purdy noted the Space Force studied the ability to conduct launches to polar orbits, traditionally flown from the Western Range at Vandenberg Space Force Base, from Florida. “It turns out you can,” he said, with SpaceX launching several Falcon 9 missions to polar orbits in recent years from Florida.

> “So we did the reverse: can you launch East Coast missions off the West Coast, from Vandenberg? Fascinatingly, you can,” he said. Such launches had traditionally been ruled out because of trajectories that would take vehicles over land.

> He didn’t elaborate on the analysis in his presentation, but said it “opened the door” for long-term discussions about eventually conducting launches to lower-inclination orbits from Vandenberg. “As we continue to hone safety analyses for the ranges, and as some particular launch providers have got a large number of successful launches, we’ve been able to narrow the boxes more and more,” he said, referring to exclusion zones for launches.

> The Defense Department has offered a legislative proposal to create a “port authority” model for launch operations on the Eastern and Western Ranges, allowing the Space Force to charge commercial users range fees to recoup its costs. Purdy said that would include an “open books” approach so that customers could see how the fees they pay are being spent to support range activities.