SPACEX COMING, WE'LL MAKE THE BEST OF IT

By Juan Montoya
Readers of this blog know that we have been skeptical of the Nirvana promised by the Brownsville Economic Development Council sunshine boys with their hawking of the SpaceX vertical launch site.
While we didn't object to the coming of a new industry, there were questions – and some still remain – about the validity and credibility of their oversell to push the private commercial enterprise along.
We know that the BEDC, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, the City of Brownsville, Cameron County, the rest of the alphabet soup incentives groups and the State of Texas all chipped in to raise the ante and entice billionaire Elon Musk to the southern tip of Texas.
The mayor of the City of Brownsville and the city commissioners all extended their welcome to SpaceX as did Texas Senator Eddie Lucio and State Rep. Rene Oliveira.
Of course, and true to form, SpaceX spent influence money wisely. The company started buying undeveloped land at the proposed site, a sandy prairie with grass and an occasional cactus.
SpaceX increased spending for lobbying. The company had one lobbyist starting in November 2011. By the end of 2012, it was paying five between $95,000 and $200,000 in aggregate, according to state records, which require that the company report only a range of expenditures.
Company lobbyists and lawyers opened discussions with Oliveira. They laid out what the company wanted from state and local officials, including changes in the law and incentives, he said.
SpaceX wanted the government to cover the cost of building electric and water lines to Boca Chica Beach, the proposed launch site, near where the Rio Grande empties into the Gulf of Mexico, said Oliveira. That, since the foiled Playa del Rio Resort boondoggle, has always been the idea of developers for the beach. It just might prove to remain an unattainable one given the cost or running out water lines to the site.
In 2012, before the biennial legislative session, Musk and a trust in his name donated $1,000 to Representative Jim Pitts, a Republican who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, $1,000 to Oliveira and $3,000 to Lucio to grease the skids.
Pitts and his then-chief of staff, Aaron Gregg, visited SpaceX’s headquarters in January 2013. The company spent $6,803 on the three-day trip, including bills for a hotel steps from the Santa Monica beach, according to state records.
SpaceX won Pitts’s support, which was key to getting incentives approved, said Oliveira.
He “was very helpful in obtaining the commitment to spend $15 million,” Oliveira said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and other governmental entities all leaned over backwards on environmental questions to welcome Musk and SpaceX.
The residents of South Texas and the barrios of Brownsville also gave up access to the people's beach (Boca Chica) at the urging o our elected leaders. Will out investment to this pristine asset pay off?
Those of us who have read the Environmental Impact Statement know that there are numerous hurdles to go in environmental mitigation measures before the first Dragon 9 is ignited and a launch actually occurs. Even at this stage of the game there are trade publications trumpeting the "600 jobs paying $55,000" as laid out by Jason Hilts and Gilbert Salinas from the BEDC.
That, of course, is not what the company promised. What they said in the FAA EIS document was that they envisioned between 150 and 200 full-time employees in the next 10 to 15 years. But all this was lost in the din of the hoopla.
If and when the monthly commercial launch site starts going business, it will launch weather satellites, satellites for private telecommunications, and other payloads. Engineers with SpaceX told those who asked that the Boca Chica launch site will not launch manned missions to Mars, go to the moon or engage in interstellar travel.
The name of the real-estate project out at Kopernik Shores is Dogleg Properties, a reference to the engineering maneuver necessary to steeer the rocket southward after launch to avoid flying over populated areas. If properly performed, such a maneuver could possibly allow the launch site to travel to the International Space Station. But then again, no one has done it.
If Musk can, then more power to him.
Until we see this happen, then we'll say what the guy from Missouri said, "Show me."