The US Needs a New Launch Site, Air Force Secretary Says

Blue Origin Commits to Return to Flight This Year After assessing the damage to the launch pad and the surrounding infrastructure, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp posted on X that Blue Origin “will fly again before the end of this year.” Traffic at US military launch sites is approaching max capacity. The nation needs another launch site capable of hosting heavy and super heavy launches to keep up with the growing demand, according to a study cited by Air Force Secretary Troy Meink during his testimony in front of the House Armed Services Committee this week. Space jam: Meink talked about the growing challenge to find space to launch amid the geographical limitations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Vandenberg Space Force Base. The DoD is working to prepare for the rising number of US launches, including investing billions in upgrading sites to host additional launchers. The money would be used to modernize existing facilities at the ranges in Florida and California in support of government launches by new entrants—including Firefly Aerospace, Stoke, and Relativity—but the situation is coming to a head. Supply and demand: The two ranges hosted 175 launches in 2025—and the FAA said US launches could nearly triple in the next 10 years. As commercial operators prepare to increase the size of their launch vehicles and the cadence of their flights, quick fixes such as leaning on state-run launch sites—at Wallops in Virginia, and Kodiak in Alaska—will no longer be tenable. To support all these new launch capabilities, and keep US military access to space resilient, another military-run site is needed. “We’re going to have to increase the capacity,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told lawmakers during his testimony this week. “Connected to that is the geographic resiliency that you might need to have separate launch locations and not be so tied to just the two specific launch ports that we have. So, we’re looking heavily and we’re now analyzing alternatives to support other launches.”