SpaceX has just taken another step towards the future of privately-funded commercial space exploration by breaking ground for its upcoming space launch facility in Brownsville, Texas, near the Mexican border.
If construction goes as planned, the company could begin rocket launches as early as 2016. Although the first launches will be commercial satellites, company founder Elon Musk, hopes that the spaceport will see the dawn of the human colonization of Mars.
"The long-term goal is to create technology necessary to take humanity beyond Earth," says Musk. "To take humanity to Mars and establish a base on Mars. So it could very well be that the first person that departs for another planet will depart from this location."
SpaceX chose Texas as its primary location thanks to around $15 million in incentives offered for the spaceport. Texas will also spend another $80 million for improvements to the area around the launch facility. The state also allows SpaceX to close the nearby public beaches during launches.
The Texas launch facility brings a multitude of benefits to the state of Texas, as well. The facility will create 300 new jobs in the region. In addition to jobs, the company will pump "hundreds of millions of dollars" into the local economy.
"This announcement represents a huge step forward for our state and continues our nation's proud legacy of scientific advancement," says Texas Governor Rick Perry. "It builds upon our pioneer heritage, our tradition of thinking bigger, dreaming bolder, and daring to do the impossible."
The spaceport will be the world's first privately-owned commercial launch facility. After 2016, the company hopes to have at least 12 launches per year. Construction of the launch facility, which will span around 34 acres, will cost over $70 million.
SpaceX currently launches its rockets from leased pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, although they've also used Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The company currently has a multi-million dollar deal with NASA for sending resupply cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and has recently been awarded another $2.6 billion to transport astronauts to and from the ISS.
SpaceX's NASA missions, however, will continue to launch from Florida, with the astronaut ferrying missions launching from Kennedy Space Center.
