SpaceX is out on its own there, responsible for a raft of things beyond making rockets - like security, safety, clearing exclusion zones and more. The company also leverages the federal infrastructure at these places.īut those government resources aren’t at Boca Chica. SpaceX has capitalized on the goodwill that the military and NASA have cultivated over decades at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Vandenberg because the network was already set up. So it’s good to have friends who can help smooth problems out. Close relationships with local civic and government leaders help when things get weird, and things get weird quickly when missiles blow up near towns. While not perfect, the military invests millions to develop and maintain bonds with the communities near its bases. The orbiter is aboard its specially-designed 76-wheel transporter enroute to Space Launch Complex Six at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Space Shuttle Enterprise passes through a hillside that has been cut to clear its wingspan. It’s brought a diverse mix of people to a part of California that depended on agriculture and mining before the military came.Īs federal property, the base also protects more than 90,000 acres and 40 miles of coastline from commercial development. On the flip side, Vandenberg has provided thousands of jobs for locals for decades - including my family members and friends. Today, the base still trains the nation’s missileers and test-launches Minuteman missiles, often with dummy warheads that fly to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. The Cold War legacy clings to the base like coastal fog. The land at both Boca Chica and Vandenberg is sacred to their areas’ indigenous people, the Carrizo/Comecrudo in the Rio Grande Valley and the Chumash of coastal California.Īnd, as an added moral dilemma, Vandenberg is infused with the specter of nuclear war. The scar tissue from the government procuring Vandenberg’s land is deep in the history books, and like Boca Chica, some people hate the environmental impacts, limited beach and wilderness access and the overwriting of native histories. On : Accelerator: Starbase, Texas? Really? It will eventually become a Space Force base. The place started out as the Army’s Camp Cooke in 1941, later became an Air Force base and started lobbing missiles in 1958. The critical difference is that Vandenberg, the nation’s West Coast space launch base, is a federal installation. The region had some tough years, with layoffs, lost contracts, business closures and rethinking its future without the boon of manned spaceflight. Then the Challenger exploded, and all those plans vanished. There are photos of Enterprise, the space shuttle mockup, assembled at the base’s Space Launch Complex-6. NASA and the Pentagon had even announced a mission and crew that would fly. The area was ramping up to host hundreds of thousands of visitors who’d watch the shuttle launch from the base. I say fragile because the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster devastated the Vandenberg region’s economy. Both are fragile despite their stature.Īnd both must work on the relationships with their neighbors to survive. Both create nuisances and pride for the locals. Both have neighbors who love and hate them. Both became critical to their era’s space race. SpaceX’s rapid build-out echoes Vandenberg’s history - only 80 years later. The influence of the base, in part, led me to a military career. Seeing people in uniform around town was normal. Huey helicopters patrolled the chaparral and B-52 bombers flew over my middle school. On : 'This is not SpaceX property': Elon Musk's company looks to rename South Texas town 'Starbase'īeyond that, Vandenberg hosted airshows, and all sorts of military aircraft took advantage of the base’s 3-mile-long runway. SpaceX's Starship SN10 sits on the launch pad Friday, Feb. In those days, the base rarely announced the launch schedule. There’d always be a moment of terror as I tried to figure out if the noise was a missile or an earthquake. They’re nowhere near as close as Boca Chica village is to SpaceX, but I remember the low thunder-rumble of early morning launches during my childhood. My neighborhood was Vandenberg Village, the closest civilian homes to the base. The place reminds me of growing up in Lompoc, Calif., near Vandenberg Air Force Base. These conflicts are the marrow of amazing stories, so it’s easy to get drawn in.īeyond that, Boca Chica has captivated me because the beach and space combo feels like home. Or becoming an interplanetary species versus depending solely on Earth? Some would say survival versus extinction. And there’s subcategories - citizens versus business and government a fast-moving corporation versus federal bureaucracy pristine wilderness versus development technology versus physics fans versus opponents past versus future.
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