As part of In a federal review process for its plans in South Texas, details of SpaceX’s proposed spaceport have been made public. They were posted in a public notice from the US Army Corps of Engineers late last week, asking for public comments on the changes.
Most notably, the new documents include a detailed architectural drawing of the multi-acre site at the southernmost tip of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. The main 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 pads, one of which already exists
- Two structural test rigs for Starship and the Super Heavy booster
- A large “tank farm” for ground support equipment for orbital flight
- A fixed position for the totemic Starhopper vehicle at the entrance to the site
What is striking about this architectural drawing is its compact nature, largely because SpaceX has little land to work with in the facility and must contain rainwater ponds to prevent flooding. All of these facilities will be concentrated on several dozen acres, which is in stark contrast to more expansive Florida launch sites at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
However, SpaceX seems confident it can control the launch and landing of its vehicles, so any accidents won’t seriously damage nearby equipment. This is a non-traditional and potentially risky gamble, but SpaceX has always been willing to take risks during development programs to move faster.
These detailed plans also provide further evidence that company founder Elon Musk is all set for Texas for SpaceX’s future. These four launch pads, coupled with the acquisition of two oil rigs called Phobos and Deimos, give some idea of the company’s operational capabilities.
The plan is likely to perform launches from South Texas and fly land vehicles on these modified platforms and starships on suborbital hops from South Texas to these platforms for orbital launches. This basically gives the Starship Launch System four orbital launch pads – and possibly a fifth if SpaceX continues modifications to the Kennedy Space Center site.
The U.S. Army Corps overhaul isn’t the only regulatory process underway in South Texas. In addition to meeting the Army Corps of Engineers, SpaceX also undergoes an environmental assessment by the Federal Aviation Administration. Since the first takeover of the South Texas launch site in 2014, the planned scope of the company’s operations has grown dramatically, from about 10 Falcon 9 launches per year to launches of the massive Starship vehicle. SpaceX is working to provide the FAA with an updated environmental assessment that the federal agency will then evaluate.
Musk has also proposed incorporating nearby Boca Chica Village into a new town called Starbase, Texas. Such a city should have at least 201 residents and follow the state’s incorporation rules. Prior to SpaceX’s arrival, the tiny Boca Chica community was made up of a few dozen homes. Somewhat controversially, the company has sought to buy out or otherwise remove residents in recent years so that it has more control over the launch activities in the neighborhood.
This story originally appeared on Ars Technica
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