BOCA CHICA, Texas – For Gilberto Salinas, the shiny glass-and-steel structure featuring the “SPACEX” sign on State Highway 4 symbolizes a gateway to the future — an entry point into deep-space exploration just a few miles from his residence.

Nearby, workers buzz around the launch pad area where SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk and his crew send 5,000-ton rockets soaring into the sky. Musk envisions that one day, humans could travel to Mars from this very site.

“I still get chills watching those rockets take off,” shared Salinas, who heads Brownsville’s economic development organization. “The future of deep-space exploration is happening right here in our own backyard.”

In contrast, Nansi Guevara, a visual artist based in Brownsville, views the rocket manufacturing facility as a disruptive force against local wildlife, including shorebirds, ocelots, and the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that nest in the Rio Grande delta. She also highlights that the presence of SpaceX has driven rents and property taxes up, attracting skilled workers from California and Florida to South Texas, filling high-paying positions that were once promised to local residents.

“More people are starting to question it,” said Guevara, who has been an activist opposing SpaceX.

Musk, currently the wealthiest individual globally, has invested over $3 billion into the expanding rocket manufacturing project located about 22 miles east of Brownsville. Space enthusiasts commend his bold objective to launch rockets and eventually send a human to Mars.

Locally, support for SpaceX remains robust and widespread, although critics like Guevara are skeptical about the actual benefits for residents and warn about potential environmental repercussions.

SpaceX’s media representatives directed YSL News to their website for information on addressing environmental concerns. According to the company, it has implemented over 200 measures specifically for its operations in Texas, which includes ongoing monitoring and analysis of the long-term health of local vegetation and wildlife.

Additionally, the company collaborates with Sea Turtle Inc., a local organization dedicated to sea turtle conservation, and engages employees in community cleanup efforts around Boca Chica, as detailed on their website.

“SpaceX is dedicated to reducing its impact and improving the environment whenever possible,” the company stated.

SpaceX has successfully launched its largest and most powerful rocket, Starship, six times, with the last launch occurring last month. Musk has sought permission to enhance operations to 25 launches annually and expressed intentions to relocate the entire rocket production operation from California to South Texas.

Environmentalists and oversight groups express concern that with President-elect Donald Trump’s administration beginning in January, significant regulatory changes could benefit Musk and others in the spaceflight industry. Trump has indicated plans to appoint Musk to a government efficiency committee tasked with streamlining governmental operations.

Musk, who contributed over a quarter-billion dollars to Trump’s election campaign, now faces the challenge of reducing government, all while securing billions in federal contracts during scrutiny from federal authorities as the CEO of various enterprises.

Determining the impact of this close relationship between SpaceX and the federal government in South Texas remains to be seen.

“They’ve been operating with little oversight, causing environmental harm in our community,” remarked Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network. “Now, we are worried that things may only get worse.”

Celebrating launch days

To date, SpaceX has generated over $800 million in taxes, both direct and indirect, for local and state governments, attracted more than $99 million in tourism revenue, and created over 3,400 jobs for employees and contractors, as reported by SpaceX to Cameron County.

To access the facility, visitors drive east from Brownsville along Highway 4 towards the coastal areas, following a roadway that runs parallel to the Rio Grande. A decade ago, this region was largely barren tidal flats interspersed with sabal palms and yucca plants. Today, it features two futuristic office towers and a striking black-glass building, adding up to 220,000 square feet across 350 acres – the site of SpaceX’s design, construction, and launch operations for its rockets.

Approximately a quarter-mile away, two tall launch towers, one for each launch pad, stand tall at SpaceX’s launch site, as employees move about the area.

For 55-year-old Barton “Bic” Bickerton, who owns the Hopper Haus Bar & Grill in the nearby Port Isabel, the excitement truly ignites during launch days, as his bar fills up with space fans from around the globe and SpaceX staff.

On these special occasions, the bar—marked with the word “BARBASE” on its exterior—opens early to welcome those eager to witness the early launches. SpaceX workers join in the celebrations with shots of Jameson, while guests from places like Norway, Russia, Germany, and South Africa gather inside and spill out onto the patio, discussing space exploration or analyzing details of the latest launch.

“It’s really pretty cool,” Bickerton expressed.

Since it opened in 2021, business has surged by 40%, according to Bickerton, a former high school baseball coach. Plans are in motion for an expansion that will include a larger dining area and an outdoor patio to cater to the increasing number of visitors during launch events.

“Business-wise, it’s been unbelievable,” he added.

Dean Putegnat, a co-owner of Redfish Recycling in Brownsville, quickly recognized the opportunity to serve the extensive Starbase complex and manage the substantial amount of recycling generated. His company handles 14 commercial containers and 70 residential containers from the space workers several times weekly, likening it to running a small city.

However, what he didn’t anticipate was the surge of residents relocating from California, Austin, and other areas who eagerly subscribed to home recycling services, progressively transforming parts of the border into a more eco-conscious region. Because of this burgeoning demand, the residential recycling branches of his business are expanding rapidly, said Putegnat, 51.

With the escalating interest in recycling, a city plan to implement curbside recycling in Brownsville could potentially pass through the city council next month, thereby widening the reach of recycling services, according to Putegnat.

“There’s a greater demand for recycling containers from homes, convenience stores, and restaurants,” he remarked. “SpaceX has vastly contributed to the indirect expansion we’re experiencing.”

Increased rents and restrictions on Indigenous tribes

However, growth brings its own challenges. Some residents are voicing concerns about rising rents due to an influx of newcomers filling SpaceX positions.

Christopher Basaldú, an anthropologist and environmentalist, shared that he had to leave his Brownsville apartment in late 2021 after the property was sold. He’s currently living in a smaller unit with fewer amenities but at a higher price.

More troubling for Basaldú is how SpaceX’s activities endanger local ecosystems near the launch site, and how the closure of the lone access road to Boca Chica Beach during tests and launches restricts the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas’s access to a location they view as historically and spiritually significant. SpaceX often closes this road for several hundred hours annually.

Community members partake in traditional practices at the beach during certain times of the year, including offering prayers, which Basaldú claims have been hindered due to SpaceX’s operations.

“We can’t uphold traditions that have been observed for millennia,” Basaldú, who belongs to the tribe, said. “In just a few short years, this outsider billionaire has obstructed our heritage.”

Last year, both environmental and cultural organizations, including the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe, initiated a legal action against the Federal Aviation Administration, alleging that the agency did not adequately evaluate the environmental implications of Starbase. The FAA has refuted these allegations.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has long expressed his frustration with what he perceives as government overreach concerning his space initiatives—an issue he might have enhanced control over depending on his forthcoming role in the Trump administration.

Scott Amey, the general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, a D.C.-based watchdog, has commented on Musk’s…“`html

The upcoming administration may face two significant challenges pertaining to potential conflicts of interest: directing federal contracts towards his own enterprises and potentially weakening the oversight capabilities of agencies that regulate his businesses, like the FAA or the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Numerous ethics and conflict of interest regulations will be relevant to him,” Amey pointed out. “It will require diligent self-regulation and an effective ethics officer to ensure he remains within appropriate boundaries.”

Earlier this year, the FAA imposed a fine of over $633,000 on SpaceX for allegedly breaching regulations during two 2023 launches. Following the announcement of these penalties, Musk indicated on X that he might pursue legal action against the federal agency.

“The main hindrance to advancement that we’re facing is excessive regulation,” Musk expressed this year. “Obtaining a launch permit takes longer than building a massive rocket.”

SpaceX representatives have committed to implementing measures to lessen the company’s environmental impact. However, incidents like the April 2023 explosion of a Starship rocket booster, which scattered debris across a wide area and shook homes nearby, have alarmed environmental advocates and local residents.

Debris from the rocket explosion

On a recent day, Justin LeClaire, a conservation biologist with the group Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries, trekked through the sand dunes north of the launch sites in search of the snowy plover, Wilson’s plover, and least tern—all protected shorebirds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Instead, LeClaire pointed out a large section of concrete littered with rebar, resembling a massive spider, stuck in the sand—a remnant of last year’s explosion. Nearby, smaller debris pieces, likened to bowling balls, were scattered on the shore.

Last June, his group examined nine shorebird nests the day before a Starship launch. Upon their return the following day, they recorded the results: Out of 22 eggs across the nine nests, only five remained undamaged— the rest were either missing or too harmed to survive, according to the team.

The launches, coupled with sporadic explosions and a notable increase in visitor traffic and litter, are causing severe damage to the local habitat, LeClaire stated.

“All of these factors combined could drastically alter the ecological landscape of the Boca Chica region,” he mentioned.

Guevara, an artist, recalled moving to Brownsville from Laredo eight years ago, where she explored Boca Chica beach and ventured to the river’s mouth where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf of Mexico. She recalls taking off her shoes and stepping into the water, watching Mexican families play on the opposite shore.

She felt a profound connection to the area and the historic river that has distinguished the U.S. from her ancestral home in Mexico for nearly 200 years.

Guevara expressed sadness over her restricted access to the region and is troubled at the thought of Starbase gradually tarnishing the area—all in the pursuit of launching rockets.

“My quality of life here flourishes because of nature,” she asserted. “Without nature, what remains for us?”