That’s the question being asked after the U.S. Space Force announced a plan over the holidays to develop a new launch site at the Santa Barbara County base capable of hosting “heavy” and “super-heavy” rockets that will deliver massive payloads into orbit, and beyond.

One of the nation’s behemoth rockets could find a home at Vandenberg Space Force Base as the military asks aerospace companies for their interest in developing a brand-new facility so that the biggest class of rockets can blast off from the West Coast.

The number of orbital launch attempts worldwide last year surpassed the record 2024 flight rate by 25 percent, with SpaceX and China accounting for the bulk of the launch activity, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports.

As 2025 turns to 2026, the worldwide launch manifest is quieting down, with only four launches scheduled for the upcoming week. Of these, two are Chinese missions, and two are SpaceX Falcon 9 missions, with Falcon 9 scheduled to launch the CSG-3 satellite and a batch of Starlink satellites.

If developed, Space Launch Complex-14 would become the first dedicated super-heavy launch complex on the West Coast.

Update: A launch alert from the Vandenberg Space Force Base indicates the mission is now being targeted for lift off from 7:10 to 11:10 a.m. PT Wednesday, Dec. 17. Want to see a rocket launch from Southern California before Christmas? You may have to wake ...

SpaceX leads the week’s launch manifest with three scheduled missions and, at the time of publishing, is the sole launch service provider behind the year’s first five launches. Alongside two Starlink flights, the company is launching 20 payloads on a rideshare mission carrying an exoplanet observation mission for NASA.

In addition to five Starship-Super Heavy launches—three of which reached their targeted near-orbital altitudes and are included in the global tally—SpaceX launched 165 Falcon 9 rockets in 2025, surpassing its 2024 record of 134 Falcon 9 and two Falcon Heavy flights. No Falcon Heavy rockets flew in 2025.