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One more item in Musk's recent press conference was confirmation of what has been long suspected - their new spaceport will be in Texas. Only next months FAA environmental report remains, and the Fish & Wildlife Dept. has already signed off on it.
There has also been talk of a new super-heavy rocket factory nearby, and the Univetsity of Texas at Brownsville is planning a new radio telescope and spacecraft tracking facility near SpaceX's launch facility.
MAP: Brownsville TX/ Boca Chica spaceport & McGregor TX rocket test facility
Green = SpaceX land purchases & leases, Red= launch site. The development has been named "Mars Crossing"
Launch site plan
Concept art
For comparison: Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E launch facility
Pad view
Reverse view
The F9/FH TEL (Transporter/Erector/Launcher) will likely be similar to the one at Vandenberg AFB. The Falcon 9 here is 224 feet high, though later ones will approach 245 feet due to a longer cargo fairing.
There has also been talk of a new super-heavy rocket factory nearby, and the Univetsity of Texas at Brownsville is planning a new radio telescope and spacecraft tracking facility near SpaceX's launch facility.
Elon Musk on Texas spaceport: “We’ll probably have that site active in a couple of years."
At the tail end of a news conference today in Washington D.C. the founder ofSpaceX, Elon Musk, was asked whether a site had been chosen yet for much anticipated SpaceX commercial launch site.
His reply, “We’re also developing a launch pad on the south coast of Texas … We’ll probably have that site active in a couple of years.â€
All he’s waiting for, Musk said, is an environmental clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration, which he expects to receive soon.
This site, if it is indeed built, would allow for launches of both the Falcon 9 (already flying) and Falcon 9 Heavy (under development) from south Texas, near Brownsville. These launches would be for commercial (i.e. satellites) as well as possibly NASA purposes.
There have been a number of indications*that SpaceX intended to build the site in south Texas, but Musk’s statement today is the clearest sign yet that, in a few years, Texans will be able to see rocket launches up close and personal.
For a state that’s seen a loss of space business due to a downturn in activity at Johnson Space Center over the last five years this is huge news.
At the tail end of a news conference today in Washington D.C. the founder ofSpaceX, Elon Musk, was asked whether a site had been chosen yet for much anticipated SpaceX commercial launch site.
His reply, “We’re also developing a launch pad on the south coast of Texas … We’ll probably have that site active in a couple of years.â€
All he’s waiting for, Musk said, is an environmental clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration, which he expects to receive soon.
This site, if it is indeed built, would allow for launches of both the Falcon 9 (already flying) and Falcon 9 Heavy (under development) from south Texas, near Brownsville. These launches would be for commercial (i.e. satellites) as well as possibly NASA purposes.
There have been a number of indications*that SpaceX intended to build the site in south Texas, but Musk’s statement today is the clearest sign yet that, in a few years, Texans will be able to see rocket launches up close and personal.
For a state that’s seen a loss of space business due to a downturn in activity at Johnson Space Center over the last five years this is huge news.
Green = SpaceX land purchases & leases, Red= launch site. The development has been named "Mars Crossing"
Launch site plan
Concept art
For comparison: Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E launch facility
Pad view
Reverse view
The F9/FH TEL (Transporter/Erector/Launcher) will likely be similar to the one at Vandenberg AFB. The Falcon 9 here is 224 feet high, though later ones will approach 245 feet due to a longer cargo fairing.