Vandenberg AFB Atlas V poster art.

Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately 9.2 miles NW of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command. Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast, using expendable boosters. Wing personnel also support the Service’s LGM-30G Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force Development Evaluation program. The base also leases launch pad facilities to SpaceX, as well as 100 acres leased to the California Spaceport in 1995.

Atlas V was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin, and is now operated by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance.