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Vandenberg Space Force Base sits on the California coast near Lompoc, a vast military and space-launch installation rather than a conventional civil aerodrome. Its single very long concrete runway and full ILS reflect decades of use for missile testing, satellite launches and the Space Shuttle-era X-37B spaceplane landings, making it one of the most distinctive fields on the US West Coast for a simulator pilot to explore.
Vandenberg Space Force Base, on the Central Coast of California near Lompoc, is operated by the United States Space Force through Space Launch Delta 30. It combines the roles of a space launch base, a missile test range and, historically, a military airfield, with a single enormous hard runway built to support both aircraft operations and spacecraft landings such as those of the Boeing X-37B. For the simulator pilot it is notable less as a destination for routine circuits and more as a striking piece of American space and military aviation history set against a dramatic stretch of Pacific coastline.
The base lies in Santa Barbara County, California, close to the town of Lompoc, on a stretch of coastline used for decades as a restricted military and space-launch range. Approach and departure services in the surrounding airspace are provided by Santa Barbara Approach/Departure on 124.15 MHz. As an active Space Force installation, the surrounding airspace and the field itself are subject to significant flight restrictions associated with launch and range operations.
Vandenberg has a single physical runway, 12/30, some 14,981 feet long with a hard surface. It is lit and equipped with an ILS, reflecting its role in supporting both large military aircraft and spacecraft landing operations.
Published frequencies for the field include Air/Departure on 124.15 MHz (Santa Barbara Approach/Departure), Tower on 124.95 MHz, which also serves as the common frequency, ATIS on 133.125 MHz, Ground/Clearance Delivery on 121.75 MHz, and a Command Post frequency of 31.1 MHz. A Range Control frequency of 121.4 MHz and a PMSV Metro frequency of 34.24 MHz are also listed, along with a further frequency of 126.2 MHz. The runway is equipped with an ILS.
The site began life as Camp Cooke, established by the United States Army in 1941 on roughly 86,000 acres of ranch land between Lompoc and Santa Maria, chosen for its flat plateau, surrounding hills and remoteness. Activated in October 1941 despite unfinished construction, it trained numerous armored and infantry divisions, along with anti-aircraft, engineer, ordnance and hospital units, with over 400 groups passing through during the war. German and Italian prisoners of war were later held and employed at the camp, including in agricultural work in nearby communities. After 1946 the camp housed a maximum-security military prison and much of the land was leased for agriculture, before the site again trained troops for the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. The installation was renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base on 4 October 1958 in honour of General Hoyt Vandenberg, and land acquisitions continued into the 1960s, including 15,000 acres taken on in 1966 for Space Launch Complex 6 and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory programme. The base has since launched numerous missiles and satellites from its Western Range, including the first Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile in December 1958 and the first two-stage Thor/Agena launch of Discoverer 1, the world's first polar-orbiting satellite, in February 1959. On 3 December 2010 the Boeing X-37B spaceplane made the first autonomous orbital landing onto a runway by a US spacecraft when it touched down at Vandenberg after 224 days in orbit. The base was renamed Vandenberg Space Force Base on 14 May 2021 following the establishment of the United States Space Force.
Vandenberg Space Force Base remains an active United States Space Force installation, home to Space Launch Delta 30, and continues to conduct missile testing and space launches for military, civil and commercial users including NASA and SpaceX. It is the only US military base from which unmanned satellites are launched into polar orbit. As an active Space Force base rather than a public aerodrome, access is restricted and prior permission is required for any flight operations.
