WITH SPACEX VENTURE, FUTURE SEEMS FURTHER AWAY

By Juan Montoya
So, now it's 2018.
Before, when billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX was making its FAA presentation as part of its Environmental Impact Statement, we were told by the Sunshine Boys over at the Brownsville Economic Development Council that th4ere would be rockets shooting off from the lomas of Boca Chica beginning in 2013.
It's been four years since that statement was made, even longer when Musk and Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez and his gaggle of commissioners posed with Da Man on Boca Chica Beach and told Marinez he saw "the future" out in the waves.
The spiel was that the construction of the first private commercial launch site which would bring 1,000 high-paying jobs of over $55,000 when and if the local folks would accept the closing of the public beach at least 12 times a year, if not more, for trial runs.
Why let facts get in the way?, figured the BEDC gurus Jason Hilts and his trusty sidekick Gilbert  Salinas.
What if Musk's SpaceX application to the Federal Aviation Administration states in black and white that after 10 years in operation, the most full-time employees they would use would be less than 200 fulltime employees and not all of them close to the $55,000 carrot dangled by the BEDC yokels?
Brownsville Herald quoting BEDC's VP Gilbert Salinas and BEDC CEO Jason Hilts:
"If constructed, the new launch site is reported to directly or indirectly create about 1,000 jobs, all paying in excess of $55,000.
Environmental Impact Statement SpaceX submitted to the FAA:
Approximately 30 full-time SpaceX employees/contractors would be present at the vertical launch area and/or control center area in 2013... During a launch campaign, an additional 100 local or transient workers would be working at the vertical launch area and/or control center area. During launch campaigns, the additional workers could work extended hours; however, 2 days prior to launch, full-time SpaceX employees/contractors and the local or transient workers would need to be on-site for up to 24 hours per day. Staffing on-site would return to normal levels (approximately 30 full-time SpaceX employees/contractors) within a day or two after the actual launch.

Table 2.1-2. Personnel for Proposed SpaceX Texas Launch Site Operations

Year Full-time SpaceX Full-time SpaceX Employees/Contractors Employees/Contractors plus
Working On-Site Additional Local/Transient Workers
during Launch Campaigns

Year                                Full time                               Local/Transient
2013                                      30                                           130
2014                                      75                                           175
2015                                      100                                         200
2016                                      100                                         200
2017                                      110                                         210
2018                                      130                                         230
2019                                      150                                         250
2020                                      150                                         250
2021                                      150                                         250
2022                                      150                                         250

So, since SpaceX isn't anywhere near to launch four years after it announced the hires in 2012, we are now told that it will be in 2018 before anything resembling a rocket gets launched from there. For now, the local daily is encouraged that trucks are hauling dirt out to the beach in preparation for the construction of the launch site.
Well, a mound of dirt is better than nothing, we  guess.
For those ephemeral jobs, Musk gets $15 million in incentives, tax abatements, undying praise, and a jingle in his pocket. Local residents – when and if it's built – can get a thrill for their money by standing some 10 or more miles away to watch a rocket take off and dirty up their beach and destroy the serene habitat of endangered species.