SALINAS, HERALD, LOWER SPACEX EXPECTATIONS,

“That should remind all of us that we can’t solely rely on geographic location as an advantage over other states,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot more to land this project.”
Brownsville Economic Development Council guru Gilbert Salinas with his eco-develop translation of "mochense mas" commenting on news that Space Florida was acquiring 150 acres as an enticement to lure a certain rocket launching firm which shall remain unnamed there.

By Juan Montoya
Suddenly, Cameron County's  geographic location isn't that hot of a selling point, according to BEDC's Gilbert Salinas, who has used it to illustrate the "slingshot" effect on rockets because we're supposedly "nearer to the equator" than other sites, notably Florida.
But now that Emma Perez-Treviño has revealed that Florida’s Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who chairs the Space Florida Board that seeks to entice space-tech industries wrote September 20 to NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood letting them know the entity was seeking 150 acres to offer SpaceX to move their launch pad there.
Of course, no one in Florida admitted that the state had SpaceX in their sights, but it stands to reason that with Elon Musk's company slated to perform at least 12 commercial launches, and the resupply of the International Space Station – the majority from Cape Canaveral – it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two logarithms together.
 Emma said that The Valley Morning Star secured the letter from Carroll to the state of Florida. Carroll enlisted the cooperation of the two officials to facilitate Space Florida’s purchase of the 150 acres.
It is obvious that the "geographic advantage" of being closer to the Equator that has been hailed as giving South Texas an edge over its rivals (Florida and Puerto Rico) was a mirage. We have pointed out here that the last time we looked at the map, 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.
Now, we know that a lot of people locally – including Salinas – have hitched their wagons to the SpaceX star. We have stated in the past on this blog, and SpaceX officials themselves have said, that their company is not planning going to launch staellites for NASA from Boca Chica. Neither will there be manned space flights taking off from the salt flats by Koepernick Shores.
All that hoopla has been fueled by the rah-rah boys over at BEDC, members of the city commission, and Hizzonor Da Mayor Tony Martinez.
City commissioner Jessica Tetrau-Kalifa even showed up dressed in matching SpaceX blue with her son in a darling SpaceX jumpsuit at the FAA hearing (read cheerleading session) held at the ITEC building in the old Amigoland Mall lobby.
It heartens us to see that some critical thinking has replaced the cheerleading in the local press. The geographic location mantra has been bandied about ever since BEDC unleashed their "Honk if you love SpaceX or be prepared to get run over" campaign on the local populace.
At first, Salinas even said that the Boca Chica site would be used to launch flights to the ISS, but has notedly deleted that claim from his latest presentations.
What else could he do? When Steven Davis, SpaceX's Director of Advanced Projects, came to Brownsville, he told us that the company was not going to use the Boca Chica site for any such thing. He knew that the FAA would not allow any space launches that included a trajectory over populated land masses. Any launch from South Texas, by necessity, would have to be aimed at at least a 42-degree trajectory that would take a the rocket over Corpus Christi or Houston and the Midwest.
Even the satellite launches SpaceX is contemplating would require some nifty engineering because the flight path of any launches from here will have to go over populated land masses. Can you guess which ones? How about Florida, our competition. And Cuba, too.
Given that requirement, very few people think that the launches are possible, although Davis – bless his heart – said that SpaceX engineers had the skill to "thread the needle" through the "Florida-Cuba" gate.
In a document put together by NASA and the Dept, of Defense numbered MT 61-109546 and tittled "Joint Report on Facilities and Resources Required at Launch Site to Support NASA Manned Lunar Program" authored by personnel of both entities, Brownsville was one of eight sites being considered for the launches.
Other sites included the White sands Missile range, Cape Canaveral (on-shore), Cumberland Island (Ga.), Brownsville, Cape Canaveral (off-shore), Hawaii, Mayaguana and Christmas Island.
Granted, that the size of the lunar mission operation would have to be much bigger than the commercial launch zone envisioned by the promoters of the SpaceX site, yet there are some issues associated that have not changed much in the past 51 years since the initial search was being conducted.
The hangup with Brownsville, beside the costs, was the flyover over populated land masses.
Florida boosters are not only enticing SpaceX with the 150 acres of real estate next to Cape Canaveral where the firm is already performing launches, but we have also learned that they have raised the ante to close to $10 million in incentives. Now Salinas and his boss Jason Hilts are looking skyward to the suddenly-quiet Texas Governor's Office for a little hand (una manita)to match the bid.
Gone are the assurances that Musk favors the Boca Chica site as Salinas claimed because "it's a Texas thing." It is obvious that millionaires like Musk look at the bottom line and seek the most they can squeeze out of potential bidders, Texas or anyone else.
So what was once hailed as a sure thing now rates a statement from the news article that "The site in Cameron County has been said to be the lead contender for the project."
That is a very telling quote because the identity of the speaker of the above statement is not mentioned. It "has been said."
Salinas has outdone himself on the SpaceX project hype. Even after SpaceX officials denied contemplating the launching of manned missions from Boca Chica, the temptation to say it remains possible was just too tempting for him to pass up.
"Now that the shuttle program is history and the way has been cleared for private space transport — with SpaceX leading the way — NASA has more time to spend on exploring Mars and beyond.
“What’s funny is that Elon Musk wants to do the same thing,” Salinas said. “It’s just a matter of who you think is going to get there first. Imagine, if we could do that from here.”
All we can conclude from that is that Mr. Salinas has a very expensive imagination. Imagine that.