SpaceX’s proposal to develop a launch site at Boca Chica Beach took giant leaps forward with the submission to Cameron County of applications for commercial building permits, the Star found.
On Monday, SpaceX’s Dogleg Park LLC submitted an application for a permit to install small solar panels off-grid in the vicinity of the proposed launch control center at the potential launch site. The contractor is SolarCity. Elon Musk, founder of the California-based Space Exploration Technologies, is chairman of SolarCity.
And on Tuesday, Brownsville Economic Development Council Executive Vice-President Gilbert Salinas also submitted an application for a commercial permit in connection with the BEDC-SpaceX-University of Texas at Brownsville’s STARGATE project for construction of a 12,000 square feet tracking center. The contractor of the project is not noted in the permit application.
The developments are the third critical and telling ones this month regarding the progress of SpaceX’s plans to develop the world’s first private, commercial vertical launch site in South Texas.
“Short of there being an official announcement, this is another indication that they are serious about locating in Cameron County,” Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos told the Star. Cascos said that one has to go through the permitting process before construction, and that this could signal the beginning of some building construction. “It’s a very good indication. We are all very excited in anticipating the official announcement so they can move forward,” the judge said.
EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO
