Space Force Wants a Third Spaceport by 2030

The US military needs a new heavy-lift launch site within four years. It hasn't picked a location yet.

By The space-quantum Desk

The US Space Force wants a third heavy-lift launch site operational by 2030—but Pentagon officials have not determined where it should go or how to acquire land for it. [1]

The pressure is real: Space Force officials project the country's established spaceports will need to support 700 launches per year by 2036, up from 175 orbital launch attempts last year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. [1]

Lt. Gen. A third site would also provide what Space Force leaders call 'geographic resiliency'—insulating launch capacity against natural disaster or military attack. [1]

The federal government already owns a third spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, used for suborbital rocket tests and small- and medium-class satellite launches. [1]

What the Space Force is describing is essentially the infrastructure problem of the next decade: more missions, the same geography, and a timeline that assumes political will materialises as fast as rocket cadence.

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told a House Armed Services Committee hearing that a congressionally mandated study identified the need for 'another site that's capable of heavy and super heavy launch capability.'