BROWNSVILLE, Texas (KVEO) – Development at SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site is ramping up on behalf of Company CEO Elon Musk to complete the orbital launch tower and stack the spaceship and booster prototypes prior to launch into orbit. Musk has asked several hundred employees from other SpaceX locations to temporarily move to the area pending the project.
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Spaceship prototypes SN 15 and 16 on the construction site of the star base. [Gaby Moreno]
To put the fully stacked Starship SN20 and Super Heavy B4 prototypes into orbit, Musk has temporarily called 500 employees from SpaceX locations in Hawthorn, California, Cape Canaveral, Florida, and McGregor, Texas, to the Brownsville / Boca Chica area .
Musk’s ambitious goals of reaching orbit by July have been delayed, but additional workers have arrived in Brownsville to complete construction of the orbital launch tower that will support the spaceship and booster, as well as the vehicle itself.
Although no date has been set for the orbital launch, a source told KVEO that Musk gave them a short nine-day grace period starting Friday to have the vehicle stacked on the launch pad.
Employees have arrived at Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport and have booked rooms at nearby hotels.
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The hotels closest to the location, the Quality Inn and America’s Best Value Inn on the Padre Island Highway, told KVEO that they were nearing or nearing capacity this week due to incoming SpaceX employees.
“We don’t have numbers like that during the week,” said a Quality Inn employee, explaining that they are normally 45% full during the week, but now they are 90%.
A representative at America’s Best Value Inn told KVEO that they have seen more guests in three days and have reached their capacity.
Hotels farther from the site, however, are not seeing the same influx due to SpaceX employees, but more people as well as detention center migrants due to the time of year and the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
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A Twitter page following Musk’s private jets posted a photo of employees arriving at Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport last Saturday.
Recently the airline company came under the microscope by the Cameron County District Attorney for unauthorized closure of county roads, SpaceX has since responded and opened the street in question.
