SPACEx BRINGS B'TOWN DOWN TO EARTH; BEDC, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

By Juan Montoya

Even as the orchestrated roll call of the usual suspects strode to the microphone on cue offering SpaceX executives the world (if not heaven and earth) for them to bring their launch pad operation to the tidal flats of Boca Chica beach, it had become apparent that the pie-in-the-sky illusions fostered by the oversell by the Brownsville Economic Development Corporations gurus have not been based on reality.
Hundreds of local residents (and some brought in from outside the area) were present to give SpaceX a group hug and to tell them that their kids are ready to be aerospace engineers and astronauts, a consequence, BEDC spokesmen said, of the company locating their launch pad here.
Mayor Tony Martinez, Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, Rep. Rene Oliveria, Sen. Eddie Lucio, Brownsville Chamber of Commerce giant Angela Burton, Commissioner Jessica Tetrau-Kalifa (with her young astronaut with NASA jumpsuit matching her little sky-blue dress in tow), BEDC's Jason Hilts, the ports's Eddie Campirano, Airport dirctor Larry Brown BISD's Bertha Pena, John Wood (remember him?), etc., etc., all spoke in favor of the company before representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration for the preparation for the project's Environmental Impact Statement.
The representatives of elected bodies came bearing ratified resolutions for SpaceX to know that they were welcomed and loved here.
"Welcome to Paradise," Oliveira said (Was it happy hour somewhere?), giving himself credit for passing legislation limiting the space industry's liability in case of an accident, a kind of rocket tort reform.
"We will soar together," Martinez intoned.
They all downplayed the impact of having SpaceX launch its rockets bearing commercial satellites upon the wetlands, tidal flats, and the handful of endangered critters who make their home in what the BEDC spokesmen call "a whole lot of nothing."
And they all spoke of the economic boost ($70 million in economic impact, 600 jobs at a minimum of $55,000 yearly), the educational component (Tetrau's astronaut child), and the tourism draw that would benefit the area.
"It will ignite an economic boom," said the CC's Burton.
Well, here's what SpaceX is not.
SpaceX's Brownsvile operation will not be related (at all) to the company's operations in Cape Canaveral or to NASA.
It is not related (at all) to the December 2008 NASA announcement that SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft were contracted to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The $1.6 billion contract represents a minimum of 12 flights, with an option to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion."
In fact, NASA has nothing to do with the local project. SpaceX will not fire NASA missions from Brownsville, despite the pipe dreams of BEDC gurus.
It also will not send manned spacecraft to the ISS, the moon, or for that matter, Mars, despite the comments of Bob Lancaster, President of the Texas Space Alliance.
The reason is simple. In order to reach the ISS whose orbit is inclined at 51.6 degrees, the launch azimuth from Brownsville would be approximately 42 degrees, which would take the craft over populated land masses, a non-no in FAA regulations.
"It is exciting to think that you will be able to see the launch of a manned space misson to Mars," Lancaster said to wild applause.
Not to be.
Instead, it is to be a minor launch site where SpaceX will program launches of limited commercial payloads (communications, weather satellites, etc.) for private customers that could include foreign states or other businesses.
All the talk by BEDC spokesmen about Brownsville being the ideal location because of our geography makes little sense. The location of the competing site in Puerto Rico is closer to the equator. In fact, Cape Canaveral, the other competitor, is less than three degrees in latitude than Brownsville (25.9014 to 28.4556) , a negligible difference. So much for geographic advantage.
The other claim, that the rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) to be used in the first stage of the rocket was no different (and implicitly no more dangerous than) "the kerosene you use in your campfire," is also a huge stretch. SpaceX's Director of Advanced Projects Steven Davis put that shibboleth to rest admitting that the highly-refined kerosene, if it was the same as camp-fire grade fuel, would not be used to propel the rockets.
In fact, even the launching of satellites east over water, there is some objection to the craft being flown over Florida's populated areas, or worse, over Cuba.
In the 1961 NASA-Dept. of Defense study of Brownsville as a launch area for manned space flights to the moon, the site was rejected for this very fact and for the fact that "the launch azimuth would be limited to approximately 80 to 90 degrees [imagine North being 0 and east being 90] to minimize land impact of (stages)."
Davis said that Space X, which has never launched from Brownsville (in fact, no one ever has), was confident that it could hit the "gate," or as one skeptic said, "thread the needle," between Florida and Cuba.
"We know we can do it," he asserted.
SpaceX spokesmen have been as confident (if not cocky) in the past when asked about their technical prowess. But if one is to judge by the four-month delay in launching their dry-run to supply the ISS, don't blame some of us for taking those claims with a grain of salt.
Regardless, will the FAA give Space X the Certificate of Waiver or Authority to launch and "thread the needle" for flights out of Brownsville?
That is probably the one question that might prove the decisive factor here.
As for the 600 jobs, Davis said that over a span of 10 years and after the FAA hurdles EIS and the waiver to fly over populated areas were acquired, it would take them a good 10 years to "ramp up" the pace starting with one or two launches per year before the full contingent of the job force would be required.
Until then, we guess the BEDC and Brownsville can continue dreaming big.