SpaceX Launch Approval, Rocket Lab, and Global Space Industry Updates. Bob Zimmerman discusses how Space Force approved SpaceX's request to double launches to 100 per year and open a second launch site at Vandenberg, despite Coastal Commission opposition.

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

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4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

SpaceX Launch Approval, Rocket Lab, and Global Space Industry Updates. Bob Zimmerman discusses how Space Force approved SpaceX's request to double launches to 100 per year and open a second launch site at Vandenberg, despite Coastal Commission opposition. Wall Street views Rocket Lab favorably due to many recent launch contracts, even though it's still developing the Neutron rocket and not yet profitable. Impulse Space shifted focus to a lunar cargo lander, using its Helios tug as a service module, seeking to meet NASA's need for efficient lunar cargo delivery.

Transcript

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0:15.0	you'll always know when you're running low on your best-selling blends.
0:18.0	Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more. This is CBSI and the world.
0:27.2	I'm John Batchel. I welcome my good colleague, Bob Zimmerman. He keeps the website behind the
0:31.9	black. Space Force and SpaceX together again at Vandenberg Air Base. Bob, I recall a story earlier in the year, the details something about the California
0:42.8	Coastal Commission.
0:43.9	What's happened most recently?
0:45.6	Good evening to you.
0:46.8	Good evening, John.
0:48.5	The California Coastal Commission has absolutely no authority at Vandenberg Space Force Base,
0:53.3	none at all.
0:53.9	But because they're
0:55.2	anti-Musk, very vehemently, SpaceX had requested to increase its launch rate from 50 up to 50
1:03.4	launches a year to 100 launches a year, as well as open a second launch pad at Vandenberg to also
1:10.1	launch the Falcon Heavy there.
1:12.1	It requested this.
	...

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