Texas, SpaceX announce spaceport deal near Brownsville

[Bob Of Burleson]

Houston Chronicle

It’s been known for awhile that Brownsville was the sole finalist for SpaceX’s proposed spaceport, but now it’s official.

Today the state of Texas and SpaceX announced that, contingent upon final approval of local agreements and receipt of additional required permits, the rocket company will build a spaceport in South Texas.

“Texas has been on the forefront of our nation’s space exploration efforts for decades, so it is fitting that SpaceX has chosen our state as they expand the frontiers of commercial space flight,” Gov. Rick Perry said in a news release.

Texas will offer $2.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to bring the company here. The state is also offering $13 million from the Spaceport Trust Fund to the Cameron County Spaceport Development Corp. The fund is used to support the development of infrastructure necessary for establishing a spaceport.

“SpaceX is excited to expand our work in Texas with the world’s first commercial launch complex designed specifically for orbital missions. We appreciate the support of Gov. Perry and numerous other federal, state and local officials who have partnered with us to make this vision a reality,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said.

The proposed 56.5-acre launch site could blast up to 12 rockets a year into space, including two Falcon 9 Heavy rockets, which could begin flying in 2015. These launches would be for commercial (i.e. satellites) as well as possibly NASA purposes.

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