I suspect they have already drained the pool of skilled technical workforce at Brownsville. It won't be just stainless steel welders at Starbase. I saw (I think in minutes of the Brownsville Harbour) mention of setting up a trade school for stainless steel welding! OK different skillset to manufacture Raptors... still, its skilled technicians rather than rocket engine engineers that SX will have to recruit.Anyway if every Raptor will be tested on the stand... that's McGregor's bread-and-butter, whereas it is specifically restricted at BC/Starbase.
When the colorful, controversial CEO of SpaceX began tweeting over the weekend that he would place a rocket-building plant next to his rocket-testing plant in McGregor, some locals thought it was simply Elon Musk being Elon Musk.McGregor and McLennan County officials said they began to hear more rumblings than usual from SpaceX about six months ago.Musk reportedly had more big plans for McGregor as he laid the groundwork for spaceflights to Mars. The buzz went silent until Saturday, when Musk launched his Twitter barrage.
Area leaders: SpaceX rockets could be built in McGregor by year's endQuoteWhen the colorful, controversial CEO of SpaceX began tweeting over the weekend that he would place a rocket-building plant next to his rocket-testing plant in McGregor, some locals thought it was simply Elon Musk being Elon Musk.McGregor and McLennan County officials said they began to hear more rumblings than usual from SpaceX about six months ago.Musk reportedly had more big plans for McGregor as he laid the groundwork for spaceflights to Mars. The buzz went silent until Saturday, when Musk launched his Twitter barrage.
The stage is set for construction of the Raptor2 engine factory in McGregor, TX
Phase I will require the company to invest in $100 million in real and personal property improvements by June 30, 2024, along with a minimum of 250 new full-time jobs by June 30, 2025.
Phase II will require the company to invest another $50 million in real and personal property improvements by June 30, 2025, along with a minimum of 150 new full-time jobs and Phase I facility investment by June 30, 2026.
Flying over SpaceX in McGregor, TX with pilot Gary Blair this evening. Raptor site had both a sea-level and vacuum Raptor on the test stand.
SpaceX McGregor, TX flyover on July 3rd. This video shows new groundwork being done east of the Raptor site. It appears that a new Raptor vertical stand is in the works. nsf.live/mcgregor@NASASpaceflight
The flame diverter for the new south Raptor vertical stand, that’s well under construction, was just lowered into its flame trench. Bonus view of the crane (yellow) at Raptor horizontal stand swinging back for an engine change. 🎥: nsf.live/mcgregor@NASASpaceflight