As part of a federal review process for its plans in southern Texas, details of SpaceX’s proposed spaceport have been released. They were posted late last week in a public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, asking for public comment on the changes.
Most importantly, the new documents include a detailed architectural drawing of the more acre site at the southern tip of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. The most important hardware that exists or will be built includes:
- Two orbital launch pads, one of which is already under construction
- Two suborbital launch pads, one of which already exists
- Two landing cushions, one of which already exists
- Two structural tests stand for Starship and the Super Heavy booster
- A large “tank farm” to provide ground support equipment for rotating flights
- A permanent position for the totemic Starhopper vehicle at the entrance to the site
What is striking about this architectural drawing is its compact nature, mainly because SpaceX has limited ground to work with at the facility and must include stormwater dams to mitigate the flooding. All of these facilities will be concentrated within a few dozen acres, which is in stark contrast to more extensive launch sites in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
However, SpaceX appears to be confident that it can control the launch and landing of its vehicles so that accidents do not damage equipment in the area. This is an untraditional and potentially risky bet, but SpaceX has always been willing to take risks during development programs to move faster.
These detailed plans also provide more evidence that the company’s founder, Elon Musk, is all in Texas for the future of SpaceX. These four launch pads, coupled with the acquisition of two oil rigs named Phobos and Deimos, provide some understanding of the company’s operating capabilities.
The plan is likely to launch launches from South Texas and land vehicles on these custom platforms and fly Starships on suborbital hops from South Texas to these orbital launch platforms. It effectively offers the Starship Launch System four orbital launch blocks – and possibly a fifth if SpaceX continues to adapt the site at Kennedy Space Center.
The US Army Corps review is not the only regulatory process underway in South Texas. In addition to the satisfaction of the Army Corps of Engineers, SpaceX is also undergoing an environmental assessment by the Federal Aviation Administration. Since the first launch of the Texas launch site in 2014, the company’s planned activity has grown dramatically, from approximately 10 Falcon 9 launches per year to the launch of the massive Starship vehicle. SpaceX is giving the FAA an updated environmental assessment that the federal agency will then evaluate.
Musk also suggested that the nearby Boca Chica Village be incorporated into a new city called Starbase, Texas. Such a city must have at least 201 inhabitants and follow the state rules for incorporation. Prior to the arrival of SpaceX, the small Boca Chica community consisted of several dozen homes. Over the past few years, the company has tried a bit controversially to buy out or otherwise remove residents so that it has more control over its nearby launch activities.
This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.
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