![]() Starbase sign with production site in the background | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Location | Brownsville, Texas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 25°59′15″N 97°11′11″W / 25.98750°N 97.18639°W | ||||||||||||||||||||
Established | 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Operator | SpaceX | ||||||||||||||||||||
Launch pad(s) | 1 operational, 1 under construction | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Starbase is an industrial complex for Starship rockets and the headquarters of the American aerospace manufacturer company SpaceX.[2] Located near Brownsville, Texas, United States, it has been under construction since the late 2010s by SpaceX. Starbase is composed of a spaceport near the Gulf of Mexico, a production facility at the Boca Chica village, and a small structure test site along the Texas State Highway 4.
When conceptualized, its stated purpose was "to provide SpaceX an exclusive launch site that would allow the company to accommodate its launch manifest and meet tight launch windows."[3] The launch site was originally intended to support launches of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles as well as "a variety of reusable suborbital launch vehicles",[3] but in early 2018, SpaceX announced a change of plans, stating that the launch site would be used exclusively for SpaceX's next-generation launch vehicle, Starship.[4] Between 2018 and 2020, the site added significant rocket production and test capacity. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk indicated in 2014 that he expected "commercial astronauts, private astronauts, to be departing from South Texas,"[5] and eventually launching spacecraft to Mars from the site.[6]
Between 2012 and 2014, SpaceX considered seven potential locations around the United States for the new commercial launch facility. For much of this period, a parcel of land adjacent to Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas, was the leading candidate location, during an extended period while the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted an extensive environmental assessment on the use of the Texas location as a launch site. Also during this period, SpaceX began acquiring land in the area, purchasing approximately 41 acres (170,000 m2) and leasing 57 acres (230,000 m2) by July 2014. SpaceX announced in August 2014, that they had selected the location near Brownsville as the location for the new non-governmental launch site,[7] after the final environmental assessment completed and environmental agreements were in place by July 2014.[8][9][10] Integrated Flight Test-1 of Starship made it SpaceX's fourth active launch facility, following three launch locations that are leased from the US government.
SpaceX conducted a groundbreaking ceremony on the new launch facility in September 2014,[11][5] and soil preparation began in October 2015.[12][13] The first tracking antenna was installed in August 2016, and the first propellant tank arrived in July 2018. In late 2018, construction ramped up considerably, and the site saw the fabrication of the first 9 m-diameter (30 ft) prototype test vehicle, Starhopper, which was tested and flown March–August 2019. Through 2021, additional prototype flight vehicles were being built at the facility for higher-altitude tests. By late 2023, over 2,100 full-time employees were working at the site.[14]
The development of Starship has resulted in several lawsuits against the FAA and SpaceX from environmental groups.[15][16] Some conservationists have expressed concern over the impact of Starship's development in Boca Chica, Texas on species like the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea-turtle,[15] nearby wildlife habitats[17] and national-refuge land.[18]
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