The US Space Force does not offer “the new Vandenberg Spaceport” in the sense of building a completely new base from scratch. Instead, they are implementing a large-scale initiative called “Cosmodrome of the future” (Spaceport of the Future), which involves a significant modernization and expansion of the existing Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California.
The main goal of this initiative – turn Vandenberg into a high-performance, sustainable and flexible spaceport, capable of supporting a growing number of launches both for national security, and for commercial partners.
Key aspects of modernization:
Increasing the frequency of launches: The US Air Force has already approved plans to double the maximum number of SpaceX launches from Vandenberg – with 50 to 100 per year, and also allow Falcon Heavy rocket launches.
Modernization of infrastructure: The program includes investments of 1,3 billion US dollars to 2028 year for updating critical infrastructure, including satellite training facilities, fuel storage, power grids and digital data management systems.
Involvement of the private sector: The Space Force actively cooperates with private companies, such as SpaceX, Firefly Aerospace та United Launch Alliance (ULA), which are investing in the modernization of their launch complexes (SLC-2, SLC-4E, SLC-6) to accommodate more types of missiles.
Flexibility and efficiency: The goal is to, to provide the ability to simultaneously conduct several large operations and quickly reconfigure launch complexes between different missions (example, from hypersonic tests to satellite launches).
So, instead of creating a new physical spaceport, The Space Force is investing in technology and infrastructure, to maximize the potential of an already existing facility, which they call “spaceport of the future”.
Source: https://spacenews.com