SpaceX Starbase
SpaceX Starbase, previously known as SpaceX South Texas Launch Site and SpaceX private launch site, is an industrial complex and rocket launch facility that serves as the main testing and production location for Starship launch vehicles, as well as the headquarters of the American space technology company SpaceX. Located in Starbase, Texas, United States, and adjacent to South Padre Island, Texas, Starbase has been under near-continuous development since the late 2010s, and comprises a spaceport near the Gulf of Mexico, a production facility, and a test site along Texas State Highway 4.
When initially conceptualized in the early 2010s, 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." 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". In early 2018, SpaceX announced a change of plans, stating that the launch site would now be used exclusively for SpaceX's next-generation launch vehicle, Starship. Between 2018 and 2020, the site added significant rocket production and test capacity. SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk indicated in 2014 that he expected "commercial astronauts, private astronauts, to be departing from South Texas," and eventually launching spacecraft to Mars from the site.
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 U.S. Federal Aviation Administration 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 and leasing 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, after the final environmental assessment was completed and environmental agreements were in place by July 2014. In 2023, the first flight test of Starship made it SpaceX's fourth orbital-class 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, and soil preparation began in October 2015. 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 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.
The development of Starship has resulted in several lawsuits against the FAA and SpaceX from environmental groups. 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, nearby wildlife habitats and national-refuge land.
On December 12, 2024, SpaceX filed an official request to Cameron County authorities to have an area that includes the site incorporated as a new city, named Starbase. On February 13, 2025, Cameron County judge Eddie Treviño ordered an election on the incorporation petition to be held on May 3. Voters approved incorporating the new city as Starbase, Texas on May 3, 2025. Pending completion of legal formalities, Starbase, Texas will be the first new city in Cameron County since the incorporation of Los Indios in 1995.
History
Private discussions between SpaceX and state officials about a private launch site began at least as early as 2011. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk mentioned interest in a private launch site for their commercial launches in a September 2011 speech.In 2012, Fredrick Jenet, director of the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy and an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Texas at Brownsville, proposed to install the STARGATE in Boca Chica as part of a package to increase the likelihood of attracting SpaceX to build a launch site in the area. The goal was also to have students and the faculty to be hands-on and assist with launches and space exploration, which was viewed as a rare opportunity.
The company announced in August 2014 that they had chosen Texas as the location for their SpaceX South Texas launch site. Site soil work began in 2015 and major construction of facilities began in late-2018, with rocket engine testing and flight testing beginning in 2019.
The name Starbase began to be used more widely by SpaceX and news media after March 2021, when SpaceX had some discussions described as a "casual enquiry" about incorporating a city in Texas to be called Starbase. Separate from the putative city, by early 2022, the Starbase moniker for the SpaceX facilities in South Texas had become common. The SpaceX site has also been called the "Gateway to Mars", including in a now removed sign outside the launch site.
Starbase is also used sometimes to describe the region of the Boca Chica subdelta peninsula surrounding the SpaceX facilities; see. In January 2024, Cameron County and Brownsville officials both passed resolutions requesting the federal government to recognize "Starbase" as an official place name for the area.
Launch site selection and environmental assessment
As early as April 2007, at least five potential locations were publicly known, including "sites in Alaska, California, Florida, Texas and Virginia." In September 2012, it became clear that Georgia and Puerto Rico were also interested in pursuing the new SpaceX commercial spaceport facility. The Camden County, Georgia, Joint Development Authority voted unanimously in November 2012 to "explore developing an aerospaceport facility" at an Atlantic coastal site to support both horizontal and vertical launch operations. The main Puerto Rico site under consideration was the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. By September 2012, SpaceX was considering seven potential locations around the United States for the new commercial launch pad. Since then, the leading candidate location for the new facility was a parcel of land adjacent to Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas.By early 2013, Texas remained the leading candidate for the location of the new SpaceX commercial launch facility, although Florida, Georgia, and other locations remained in the running. Legislation was introduced by the Texas Legislature to enable temporary closure of state beaches during launches, limit liability for noise and other commercial spaceflight risks, as well as considering a package of incentives to encourage SpaceX to locate at Brownsville, Texas. 2013 economic estimates showed SpaceX investing approximately in the development and construction of the facility. A incentive package was approved by the Texas Legislature in 2013.
In April 2012, the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation initiated a Notice of Intent to conduct an environmental impact statement and public hearings on the new launch site, which would be located in Cameron County, Texas. The summary then indicated that the Texas site would support up to 12 commercial launches per year, including two Falcon Heavy launches. The first public meeting was held in May 2012, and the FAA released a draft EIS for the location in South Texas in April 2013. Public hearings on the draft EIS occurred in Brownsville, followed by a public comment period ending in June 2013. The draft EIS identified three parcels of land—a total of —that would notionally be used for the control center. In addition, SpaceX had leased of land adjacent to the terminus of Texas State Highway 4, of which would be used to develop the vertical launch area; the remainder would remain open space surrounding the launch facility. In July 2014, the FAA officially issued its Record of Decision concerning the Boca Chica Beach facility, and found that "the proposal by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies would have no significant impact on the environment," approving the proposal and outlining SpaceX's proposal. The company formally announced selection of the Texas location in August 2014.
In September 2013, the State of Texas General Land Office and Cameron County signed an agreement outlining how beach closures would be handled in order to support a future SpaceX launch schedule. The agreement is intended to enable both economic development in Cameron County and protect the public's right to have access to Texas state beaches. Under the 2013 Texas plan, beach closures would be allowed but were not expected to exceed a maximum of 15 hours per closure date, with no more than three scheduled space flights between the Saturday prior to Memorial Day and Labor Day, unless the Texas GLO approves.
In 2019, the FAA completed a reevaluation of the SpaceX facilities in South Texas, and in particular the revised plans away from a commercial spaceport to more of a spaceship yard for building and testing rockets at the facility, as well as flying different rockets—SpaceX Starship and prototype test vehicles—from the site than the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy envisioned in the original 2014 environmental assessment. In May and August 2019, the FAA issued a written report with a decision that a new supplemental EIS would not be required. In May 2021, the FAA issued a written FAQ regarding the FAA's Environmental Review of SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Operations at the Boca Chica Launch Site.
Throughout 2022, Starship's first integrated flight test was delayed extensively, due to delays in the FAA issuing a license, to allow findings on environmental impact. On June 13, 2022, the FAA announced that Starbase was not creating a significant impact on the environment, yet listed more than 75 actions to be taken before review for an orbital launch license. Some of these actions included a $5,000 contribution to wildlife nonprofits in the area, making sure roadways stay open on certain days of the year, and actions to protect local sea turtle populations.