Why are SpaceX launches from Texas?
Amid preparations for the Starship test flight, SpaceX has been continuing its efforts to scale up its facilities in Texas to build and launch its rockets.
SpaceX is launching its fourth Starship test flight, which lifts off from its Starbase site in South Texas. The three previous missions all kicked off from the same base.
Elon Musk’s space company is working to expand its Starbase facilities in Texas where it builds and launches its rockets.
SpaceX produces its ships and heavy boosters in this location which can accommodate the scale of the enterprise. According to Starbase executives, more than 3,000 workers, both SpaceX employees and contractors, toil at the site everyday.
The company has invested billions on infrastructure since the facility was inaugurated 10 years ago. It plans to construct a production facility called Starfactory which will occupy a million square feet. SpaceX will also build an office building, a second high bay, and a second orbital launch pad close to the one the company already has.
WATCH: Starship launches 4th test flight: live
Why are SpaceX launches from Texas?
For launches like those planned by SpaceX, an ideal area would have an easterly water overflight path which would promote safety. It would also be located as close as possible to the equator.
According to NASA, if a spacecraft is launched from a site near Earth’s equator, it can take the most advantage of the Earth’s substantial rotational speed. The Starbase site in Texas was deemed ideal, and SpaceX began to buy property in the area some 10 years ago.
Where else does SpaceX have a launch complex?
Aside from the Texas complex, SpaceX has also been developing similar infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex in Florida.
According to Kathy Lueders, general manager of Starbase and a former NASA associate administrator, both Texas and Florida facilities will support Starship missions.
Lueders says they have launch areas in Texas and Florida because they need two locations to meet their manifest, although the Texas Starbase will be what she calls their “workhouse area,” per Space News.