By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The California Coastal Commission voted on Thursday against a plan by Elon Musk's SpaceX to nearly double the number of Falcon 9 rocket launches the company is permitted to conduct each year from Vandenberg Space Force Base, from 50 to 95.

But as was the case when the commission voted last October to oppose a previous SpaceX launch expansion from 36 to 50 at the installation, the U.S. government can merely override the objections of California regulators and approve the latest plan.

The U.S. Department of the Air Force, parent agency of the Space Force, has taken the position that the proposed launch expansion at Vandenberg, about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Santa Barbara on the central California coast, is a federal activity exempt from further

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