In fact, if they'd tried either of their last two launches at Vandenberg, there would have been a very substantial performance penalty. From Canaveral, the roc

In fact, if they'd tried either of their last two launches at Vandenberg, there would have been a very substantial performance penalty. From Canaveral, the rockets head generally eastward, in the direction of the eventual orbit. From Vandenberg, they can't --- it would take them over populated land. So, if you want to launch into an equatorial orbit from Vandenberg, you have to have the rocket initially head south, over water, and then turn. This wastes a lot of fuel, and it's not something anyone wants to do if they can avoid it. So, the SpaceX Manifest lists only two launches from Vandenberg in 2014 --- and one of them is the Falcon Heavy demo flight, for which no payload has yet been announced. Manifest here: http://www.spacex.com/missions http://www.spacex.com/missions