SpaceX infrastructure projects
Sunday May 16, 2021 19:40
(Modification)
Starbase engraving in Boca Chica, Texas (Source: NSF’s BocaChicaGal, NASASpaceFlight.com)
Starbase engraving in Boca Chica, Texas (Source: NSF’s BocaChicaGal, NASASpaceFlight.com)
Aside from the obvious activities related to building missiles, SpaceX is also active extensively in the field of … construction and property management.
The past few months have been an intense period in this regard, and in this article we shall try to summarize these activities.
Austin, Texas
According to local media reports, the SpaceX plant is being built in Austin, Texas, across from the massive Tesla plant and at the company’s headquarters. Muska manufactures all equipment for Starlink constellation end users there, such as routers, antennas, and other elements, the production of which can reach hundreds of thousands of copies annually. Interestingly, the layout and location of the foundations indicate that the building will be identical to the Tesla Factory and a similar architecture to the Tesla Factories of the Giga series.
As of today (May 16, 2021) is the final foundation for the building’s foundations, which may indicate that actual construction will begin on any day. Compared to the pace of construction at the nearby Tesla plant, it can be speculated that the goal is to start testing production later this year.
The work appears on the foundations of another building immediately next to it, but there is no information on its purpose. The plant’s location and its strict production nature indicate that Musk will once again want to use Tesla’s expertise in mass production.
Boca Chica / Starbase, Texas
The situation in and around Boca Chica and Texas is much more interesting. A few months ago, Elon Musk announced the founding of Starbase at the place where SpaceX is currently located in Boca Chica. Whereas, aside from the newly placed tag bearing the name, there are no special traces of the activities taking place, a lot happens in the background.
As reported, among other users of the NASASpaceFlight.com forum, SpaceX buys pieces not only in Boca Chica, but also in Monica, near Brownsville. There are no visible construction activities there yet, but according to official state documents, SpaceX has already purchased at least 10% of the plots there with a total area of at least several hundreds of hectares. Moreover, it can be assumed with high probability that this case is not up-to-date, as updating data in documents usually takes several months.
It should also be noted that it is by far the largest area in the region permitting the construction of urban structures and infrastructure. Much of this neighborhood is owned by the state, which indicates that, like the Boca Chica site, it will be at least partially donated to SpaceX.
In Boca Chica itself, according to official documents, SpaceX already owns more than 60% of the plots, and the status of some of the remaining ones is unclear. Some are state plots of land that will be sold to SpaceX or exchanged for others, and some of the plots of land that have already been sold have yet to register the transfer of ownership.
It is worth noting that SpaceX is also buying large batches of flooded land plots, which some believe will be part of a swap with Texas for state-owned plots.
The final piece of the Elon Musk big puzzle is to rent a large plot of land at the Brownsville shipyard, which sits in front of the Demos Floating Platform. Next to it there is a wide straight road that leads to … the access road to Boca Chica. Bringing this information together, we can see that despite the apparent silence on the matter, a lot is happening at the back of the logistics activities of the Mars program.
Maps – Special Development:
