DALLAS — A $2.3 million incentive package and another $13 million fund helped lure the SpaceX commercial launch site to the southern tip of Texas, state and local officials said.
Gov. Rick Perry announced the state is offering $2.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to bring SpaceX's commercial rocket launch facility to Cameron County.
Along with the TEF investment, the state is also offering $13 million from the Spaceport Trust Fund to the Cameron County Spaceport Development Corp.
The fund is used to support the development of infrastructure necessary for establishing a spaceport.
The most important factors in choosing the site were the launch conditions and permits, SpaceX officials said. Texas was in competition with Florida for the business. Although Houston has long served as mission control for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Texas hasn't served as a launch site for space missions.
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, and is the world's fastest-growing provider of launch services. It is the only private company to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it achieved in December 2010. SpaceX is also the first private company to attach a spacecraft to the International Space Station, exchange cargo payloads, and return safely to Earth.
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk and headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif., operates a Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, that has grown to over 250 employees since starting operations in 2003. Musk is also the founder of Tesla Motors, a maker of high-performance electric-powered cars. The Brownsville facility will launch commercial satellites.
The new launch site in Boca Chica, three miles from the Mexican border, is expected to create 300 jobs and provide $85 million in capital investment to the local economy.
Texas officials and SpaceX first discussed the potential project in the spring of 2011 during a TexasOne mission to California. Perry has since met with SpaceX founder Elon Musk and provided letters in support of SpaceX's efforts to get FAA clearance for the site.
The Texas Legislature created the TEF in 2003 and reauthorized funding in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. TEF projects must be approved by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House.
