SpaceX files permit to build $20M school in Boca Chica

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — SpaceX has filed a permit to start new construction on an Ad Astra school in Brownsville.

Construction for the building is estimated to cost $20,000 and is being privately funded, on private land for private use, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation website.

The project is expected to be completed by January 2026 with a construction start date of April 14. The 34,365 square foot building will house children from infancy to grade 12, according to TDLR.

In the past, Ad Astra was a school for students whose parents worked at SpaceX.

Ad Astra, was co-founded by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Josh Dahn and spent six years on the campus of SpaceX in Los Angeles, California.

According to it's website, Ad Astra's approach to education is centered around hands-on, project-based learning, where children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and discover solutions to real-world problems.

The school states it offers a progressive learning environment that emphasizes the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into its curriculum.

Ad Astra is open to all students 3 to 9 years old and is also opening a school in Bastrop, Texas. The school's inaugural class will launch in 2025. Admissions for this class are now closed.

Additionally, Ad Astra states it will subsidize tuition during the 2024-2025 school year.

"In future years, tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program," the school website stated. "Ad Astra will further take into account demonstrated financial need for all families."

According to Dahn, Ad Astra was declared "the most exclusive school in the world" when it was first written about in the media.

Astra Nova is a fully independent not-for-profit school that aims to share compelling work with students and families around the world. However, at the time, the school had been operating for less than two months with nine students and only two full-time teachers.

It was also allegedly rumored that the school created a secretive laboratory school for brilliant students who "love flamethrowers."

Dahn clarified that the school was "exclusive" because it was small and it was "secretive" because it was not properly zoned.

"The kids were bright, but kindness and eagerness to learn (and parents who worked at SpaceX) were the only criteria for admission," Dahn continued. "We had a chemistry lab but not flamethrowers."

"The location at a rocket factory and our association with Elon Musk made Ad Astra one-of-a-kind. But beyond the hype and hyperbole, Ad Astra was special because we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design a school from first principles," the about us page reads on the Astra Nova website. "We did not have limitations of any mandated structure or curriculum. Our only directive from Elon was to 'make it great.' And from the terror and opportunity of that challenge, Astra Nova was born."

Now, Musk and Dahn are launching Astra Nova, an experimental online school for students age 10 to 14.

To get a better understanding of the curriculum, on the Astra Nova website is a section labeled conundrums, which poses questions designed to help Astra Nova students disagree constructively, according to the website.

A link to its YouTube shows The Puppet Conundrum, which provides a scenario where a city is looking for its next leader. In the scenario one candidate proposes that they intent to be the "puppet" of a machine intelligence specifically trained on the successes and failures of governments in human history. The scenario states that the machine will make every decision no matter how small for the candidate since it is impartial.

The video goes on to ask students if they would vote for this AI powered politician with only "team yes" and "team no" as answer choices.

The online school is accepting applications until April 15.