SpaceX has decided it needs more space at the Port of Long Beach as it’s ramping up the number of reusable rockets it’s launching along the California coastline.

The company already has 6 acres of space on Pier T. The facility is a hub for SpaceX’s recovery operations of Falcon 9 rockets, which have boosters that can land vertically and be reused after delivering their payload.

“Long Beach is one of just two places in the world where you see a rocket return home from space on a ship,” Mayor Rex Richardson said Wednesday as he announced the expansion.

SpaceX, he said, will now lease more than 15 acres on Pier T, including office and manufacturing space.

A map shows the Port of Long Beach property SpaceX is renting along Nimitz Road on Pier T. Photo courtesy the Port of Long Beach.

The move comes as SpaceX is launching rockets more frequently from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

“And as SpaceX continues to increase their launch cadence from Vandenberg, along California’s Central Coast, we’ll see more Falcon 9 boosters return home through the Port of Long Beach,” Richardson said.

Richardson announced the expansion during his annual Grow Long Beach economic showcase, where he praised a wave of aerospace and technology companies expanding in the city.

Ford is moving a high-tech electric vehicle development team to Long Beach next year, and companies that already have a footprint locally — like space-station manufacturer Vast — are growing their workforce.

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“In the next two years, thousands of new jobs — high-paying jobs, family-supporting jobs — are coming to Long Beach,” Richardson said.

SpaceX is paying $285,000 per month to rent the Pier T property, according to a lease agreement the Long Beach Harbor Commission approved at its June 10 meeting. That’s more than double the $107,000 per month it was paying for the smaller 6-acre space.

SpaceX declined to comment.

The lease runs through April 30, 2028.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.