SpaceX laying roots in South Texas: decade since breaking ground at Boca Chica

BOCA CHICA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Sunday marks 10 years since SpaceX CEO Elon Musk broke ground at Boca Chica beach to create what is now known as Starbase.

SpaceX officially broke ground at Boca Chica on Sept. 22. At the time, Musk promised to begin investing in South Texas and stated that the construction of a launch site would create hundreds of jobs for locals.

As of May, the space company has provided over 7,300 jobs across Cameron County and also provided over 55,000 Texans with Starlink internet, according to its economic impact report.

Now, SpaceX is on the cusp of its fifth test flight for Starship. Starship and the Super Heavy rocket, collectively referred to as Starship represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, according to Musk.

"Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable," the SpaceX website reads.

While locals have conflicting feelings about the space company laying down roots in South Texas, there is no doubt the experiments that have come out of Starbase are fast evolving.

From watching the first trials of the Starhopper touch back down on the landing pad, to now watching a fully stacked rocket attempt to land in another ocean, SpaceX has made rapid progress.

However, it has not been without pushback from environmentalist groups and regulation delays from the Federal Aviation Administration.

In it's first few years, SpaceX has shaken the community, literally, with some of its launch attempts.

In its early launches, environmental groups became concerned by the amount of debris that SpaceX left behind while testing. From giant chunks of space rocket debris to a white powdery rubble that fell down on the Port Isabel community, SpaceX has left an impact on the local community.

Its rapid progression is spearheaded by Musk's ambition to test a large amount of flights. In Jul, the company proposed increasing the number of launches to 25.

Additionally, the launch site looks much different than it did 10 years ago. Now equipped with a second launch tower and an entire community of engineers living in Boca Chica, SpaceX has planted roots in South Texas.

The tech billionaire has also alluded to moving his SpaceX Headquarters to Texas, exiting many Texas space enthusiasts for what is to come as the company continues to grow.

SpaceX's next launch is expected to come no sooner than late November, according to the FAA.