IT’S OFFICIAL — Starship operations to remain in South Texas for the foreseeable future.
On December 12, 2023,
Starbase’s General Manager Kathy Lueders stated “SpaceX’s plan is to *make the company’s Boca Chica Complex* its “premier manufacturing, launching, and operational center for our Starship.”
This clarify’s Elon Musk’s answer to the question I asked at the February 2022 “Starship Update” presentation, where I asked “how much will Starbase be used versus the Cape?”
His response was appropriate when he said “it’s important to have redundancy” and went onto to clarify “SpaceX was planning on duplicating everything built at Starbase — at the Cape”, reiterating “redundancy is key.”
This clears up any speculation people had about SpaceX possibly moving all operations to Florida or any number of other miscellaneous locations people started drumming up for news headlines.
Based on my experience since moving here in July of 2021, Brownsville has become an international “destination” where people travel from all over the world to visit Starship at Starbase.
In the last two years alone, the rise in full-time employees has tremendously impacted the local real estate market as well as pumped millions of dollars into the local economy with the newest “space coast” to become a hub for space tourism.
The city is growing very rapidly. It’s evident SpaceX and LNG leading this expansion.
Austin is definitely the “next boom town,” but I’d say the Rio Grande Valley may be a close second….
During an invite-only meeting for City of Brownsville officials and others, SpaceX said it was expanding its employee housing. I went to see it for myself. These photos don't convey the frenzy of it all in the slightest.…
