SPACEX: FIRST, 12 SATELLITE LAUNCHES A YEAR, NOW 25 STARSHIP LAUNCHES; HEARINGS TUESDAY AT TSC CIVIC CENTER. THURSDAY P.I. HEARINGS CANCELLED

By Juan Montoya

Elon Musk and SpaceX came to South Texas under false pretenses back in May 2012.

During the initial hearing of the Federal Aviation Administration at the ITEC at Amigoland Mall, there was talk of using his leased or owned properties out at Boca Chica Beach for 12 satellite launches a year, and – with the help of cheerleader Gilbert Salinas, then a VP at the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation – dangled sugar plums of 600 employees at $75,000 and a multimillion space "tourism" industry.

Some 500 people attended that meeting and the half dozen or so who voiced environmental concerns and the loss of public access to the beach were not allowed to speak until the very end of the hearing.

Steve Davis, SpaceX’s project leader for the Brownsville site told The Brownsville Herald “It is really important to go to a place that wants us to be there and to know both the positive impacts and the negative impacts and really judge that. That is kind of the stage we are in right now. It has been very, very positive, which has been great.” Davis said of community response.

"What do you see when you look out at the beach from here," former Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez said he asked Musk during the groundbreaking at the site. "The future," Martinez said Musk replied.

Well, here we are and how do we like it 13 years into the future?

Well, those 600  - or was it 1,000? - jobs at $75,000 - or was it $55,000? - never materialized. Neither did the 12 satellite launches that would generate the tourism dollars.

According to the Federal Register, SpaceX proposed to build a vertical launch area and a control center to support up to 12 commercial launches per year. The vehicles launched would include the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and smaller reusable, suborbital launch vehicles. There was no mention of a Starship or of a Starbase private city for Musk and his minions.

Instead of a launch site, and with the help of the often too-willing state and federal environmental agencies, SpaceX instead turned their Boca Chica site into a rocket manufacturing and rocket test site. Despite the Salinas hype (he is now the CEO of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, or GBIC) and that of the city, no one is going "From Boca Chica to Mars...and Beyond" from there.

Instead, the site has emerged as the premier rocket-manufacturing site for NASA's plans to return to the moon and start the process to send manned missions to Mars. But the missions to the moon and the red planet will not launch from Boca Chica. All launches of those rockets and craft will  be from Cape Canaveral in Florida. After all, they do have running water there, unlike Boca Chica, Starbase, or whatever.

At the time of the initial FAA hearing on May 2012, Salinas and his former boss (the late Jason Hilts) were saying this:

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.

This was quite different from the Environmental Impact Statement that 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 shows the number of full-time SpaceX employees/contractors working on site plus the local/transient workers necessary during launch campaigns that would be present between 2013 and 2022.
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

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 

As we said at the top, things have changed drastically than when these plums were dangled before local eyes. SpaceX has dropped all pretenses that it will launch 12 commercial satellites. What is out there, according to Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, is a site that currently employs over 3,400 full-time workers and contractors, albeit not all local workers. It's not what was promised, but in comparison to what was there in 2012, a vast economic improvement. 

All this, of course, comes at a cost. For all practical purposes, Boca Chica is no longer a public-access beach, and is open to residents only when not used by SpaceX. With the proposed 25 Starship launches (two a month) that is no longer a public beach. And the environmental cost to that once-pristine coast and the maritime nurseries of the laguna is far from having been fully measured.

But the hype from Salinas and the Sunshine Boys over at the city and the Chamber of Commerce and his GBIC has never stopped and just keeps rising. Brownsville is rising in the national "hotspot" rankings and is "shaping the future of economic growth in the region,” he now says, crediting the power of "collaboration, strategic investment and forward-thinking leadership." Retch. 

And, more Ec-Dev buzzwords and cliches in the press release that gushes that SpaceX has turned the region into “a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse.”

The press release states: “The company’s investments in its Boca Chica facility – nearly $3 billion – have had a profound impact on the local economy, supporting over 21,000 indirect jobs and creating a ripple effect that fuels continued growth. With SpaceX’s focus on commercial launches and advanced manufacturing, the city is positioned to continue its upward trajectory.”

Put on your high boots as Salinas piles on the hype, citing outmoded transportation metaphors to refer to the impact of space age industries on South Texas.

“I like to refer to the economic development as a locomotive,” he said. “It’s slow at first but once it gets traction, there’s no stopping it. We’re seeing how Brownsville is really starting to gain traction in different facets of the economy, especially as it pertains to industry and forward thinking companies such as SpaceX. Can’t wait to see when this train reaches full speed."

Take all that with a grain of Boca Chica sand, if you can get there. Here's a list of the places and times where the FAA hearings will be held and make your voice heard above the hyperbole-filled din of these gents.

*Tuesday, January 7, 2025; 1:00 PM–3:00 PM & 5:30 PM–7:30 PM CT at the Texas Southmost College, Jacob Brown Auditorium, 600 International Boulevard, Brownsville, TX 78520

*Virtually on Monday, January 13, 2025; 5:30 PM–7:30 PM CT

ALERT!

-------------------THURSDAY MEETINGS IN PORT ISABEL CANCELLED----------------------------- 

*Thursday, January 9, 2025; 1:00 PM–3:00 PM & 5:30 PM–7:30 PM CT at the Port Isabel Event & Cultural Center, Queen Isabella Room, 309 E Railroad Avenue, Port Isabel, TX 78578


Public comments can also be submitted to www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-2006.

They can also be mailed to Amy Hanson, FAA Environmental Specialist, SpaceX EA, c/o ICF, 1902 Reston Metro Plaza Reston, VA. 20190, or delivered in written or verbal form during a public meeting.