Brownsville sees impact throughout the years thanks to SpaceX – KGBT-TV

BOCA CHICA BEACH, Texas (KVEO)- Without a doubt, SpaceX has brought a lot to South Texas, specifically to Boca Chica. But it has also had a major impact on the city of Brownsville.

Brownsville Mayor, Trey Mendez, visited memory lane when SpaceX was first starting out in Cameron County.

I remember in September of 2019, I was at the SpaceX facility for an event where Elon Musk spoke and really started to talk about starship and the plans for a starship and everything they were going to be doing, said Mendez.

Slowly but surely, everything SpaceX set out to do is slowly happening. Mayor Mendez said the city of Brownsville continues to grow and SpaceX has had a big part in that.

Weve seen a pretty big surge over the last couple years specifically over the last 6 months some of that has coincided with SpaceX growth theyve really ramped up operations theyve got about 1,400 employees right now and theyre looking for more, he said.

With SpaceX outside city limits, Mendez said Brownsville does not profit from tax revenues or property taxes. While that would also be a benefit for the city, Mendez adds they do see indirect benefits from their operations.

People that have moved here people that are purchasing houses people that eating locally or staying at hotels things like that so we do see an indirect impact and its a pretty big indirect impact, he said.

According to Mendez, now that SpaceX could have a contract with NASA in the near future, the possibilities could be endless and bigger than they anticipated.

Other space-related companies that are interested in coming to Brownsville as a result of whats happening out there that doesnt necessarily launch companies but that are involved in other facets of space or the space industry, said Mendez.

The focus for the city is to be the destination for the SpaceX industry. Mendez hopes this will bring more people down to Boca Chica Beach in different parts of Brownsville to enjoy the history of the city.

The last time they launched last week I saw probably a couple of hundred people on the side of the road between here and Port Isabel which I wasnt expecting so that was interesting to see families, real people of all ages with their eyes on the sky looking at what was happening, said Mendez.

As for the future of Brownsville, Mendez is excited for what the space industry will bring.

I certainly see this industry growing, space-related businesses are probably going to be a trillion-dollar industry by 2030 so we definitely want to capitalize on that and continue to grow, he said.

For now, space fanatics will be keeping their eyes on what SpaceX plans on next.

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Brownsville sees impact throughout the years thanks to SpaceX - KGBT-TV