Author Topic: SpaceX McGregor Facilities  (Read 72049 times)

Offline DistantTemple

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #80 on: 07/11/2021 11:46 am »
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.
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Offline danneely

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #81 on: 07/11/2021 07:16 pm »
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.

The flip side is that Brownsville has a larger population to draw on. 

The 2019 estimated population for Cameron county was 423k. 

McGreggor sits on the border of McLennan and Coryell Counties. they have a combined ~330k 2019 estimated population.  That's spread out over a larger area; but with BC being at the extreme edge of Cameron county probably doesn't result in that having a significant impact in the number of people within a reasonablish commuting distance. 

Looking at the closest major city to each location shows something similar, Brownsville has about 183k vs Waco's 139k.

That leaves open the questions of how big a workforce will be needed at each location; and if one area is more attractive to migrants than the other.  The latter does suggest a bit of an advantage for the more western location.  Cameron county gained an estimated 17k people since 2010, McLennan county 21k, while Coryell only gained a few hundred people.  That could just be down to Waco being the only city of size in the area, while Brownsville has the much larger city of McAllen Tx an hour away as a competing draw.

Offline alugobi

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #82 on: 07/11/2021 07:50 pm »
Once the construction of the facility is finished, they'll need fewer peeps to build engines than they will ships at Boca Chica.

Offline su27k

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #83 on: 07/13/2021 03:55 pm »
Area leaders: SpaceX rockets could be built in McGregor by year's end

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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.

Offline mpusch

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #84 on: 07/13/2021 03:56 pm »
Area leaders: SpaceX rockets could be built in McGregor by year's end

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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.

Despite the title saying "rocket", the actual article is just talking about the new engine plant.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #85 on: 08/08/2021 07:15 am »
https://twitter.com/bluemoondance74/status/1424240910204801028

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The stage is set for construction of the Raptor2 engine factory in McGregor, TX

Offline StraumliBlight

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #86 on: 09/08/2021 10:14 pm »
$150 million expansion of SpaceX's McGregor facility

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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.

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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.

Offline abaddon

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #87 on: 09/08/2021 11:49 pm »
SpaceX gets $4 million and $2 million from Waco for Phase I and Phase II respectively.  Relatively small compared to the scope of the project, but money is money...

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #88 on: 11/14/2022 06:01 am »
https://twitter.com/adamcuker/status/1592013906054205440

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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.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #89 on: 07/06/2024 06:05 pm »
https://twitter.com/adamcuker/status/1809632511330234875

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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
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Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Facilities
« Reply #90 on: 10/30/2024 04:33 am »
Video:

https://twitter.com/jswartzphoto/status/1851365571104809031

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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

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