Ask HN: Why does SpaceX want to launch Starship from Texas instead of Florida? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why does SpaceX want to launch Starship from Texas instead of Florida?

2 pointsamichail12 comments

I am fairly convinced there will be Canaveral launch capability for Starship eventually - I cannot see the US government having any part of a moonshot done offsite.

For all other Starship operations, not having to coordinate with NASA and direct competitors (remember that conspiracy theory involving an ULA sniper? [1]) is a plus.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/implication-...

SpaceX started work on Pad 39A back in December:

https://spaceexplored.com/2021/12/03/starship-orbital-pad-co...

They leased another, yet to be constructed pad, new number, 46 iirc?

LC-46 has been around for decades (seriously, very few people have any idea how many launch pads there are at KSC and CAB), 46 is scheduled to support Astra launches this year. IIRC, the pads were numbered by their construction order, I remember a plan outlining the location of a (unbuilt?) LC-56 from the 1960s... [1], suggesting that LCs up to that number were planned at least.

[1] http://heroicrelics.org/info/ksc/ccafs-maps/nasa-utilization...

LC-49 is the correct number.

Yeah, the pads are numbered by construction order. NasaSpaceFlight talked about this recently and how confusing it can be driving by them.

I cannot see the US government having any part of a moonshot done offsite.

That doesn't necessarily follow. Very often it's more economic to start a new site from scratch, rather than have the costs of demolition on top of the costs of building. In not so long a time, much of Florida will be affected by sea-level rise. Why not move while it's easier, rather than build something twice?

Because they own the facility? Otherwise, they have extra cost of going through a government facility with extra regulations and oversight.

Why can't they own a facility in Florida?

Why spend extra money on a worse launch site further north?

You should know they will be launching starship from both locations and have already secured the land in the cape

They own the facility, which means that they are fully in control of the scheduling, they do not need to lease the launchpad and support facilities at Cape Canaveral, and they also get a slight boost from launching closer to the equator. They literally picked the southernmost spot as they could in the continental United States.

Lastly, given that Boca Chica was little more than a tiny retiree town, placing the facility there means they can buy up and develop all the land around it far more easily than picking some other coastal town.

In any case, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease in April 2014:

https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/april/nasa-signs-agreement-w...

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