Category Archives: Boca Chica Texas

SpaceX plans a new try at launching its Starship super heavy rocket on Thursday from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Starship is an important component of SpaceXs partnership with NASA on the Artemis program, a mission thats supposed to return humans to the moon later this decade.

Eric Berger, senior space editor for the tech site Ars Technica, joined the Standard with more about what to expect from the planned launch.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: So if this flight takes off tomorrow as planned and Im keeping an eye on the skies, as Im sure theyre doing the same down in Boca Chica I think this will be SpaceXs third attempt at a Starship test launch, right?

Eric Berger:Yeah, itll be the third attempt to launch this massive rocket in less than 11 months.

Some people are looking at this saying its a spectacular failure. SpaceX maintains that these previous two launches werent failures; they were iterative after all, theyre called test launches for a reason. Could you remind us what happened in the earlier launches?

Yeah, the first launch was pretty challenging. The rocket got off the ground and cleared the pad, but it did cause a lot of damage. It lifted off, kicked up a lot of dust and debris, and did explode about a minute and a half into flight. That was kind of sort of a success because they were really just trying to demonstrate the performance of the 33 main engines on the vehicle and get some data on Starship in flight.

The second vehicle did much better. The first stage of the rocket this is the largest, most powerful thing ever built, in terms of rocketry it flew a nominal mission, you know, flying a couple minutes. And it had a problem as it was trying to make a controlled reentry to Earth, and it exploded, but it had done its job.

The second stage burned for a couple of minutes and was performing just fine. And then they had a leak event of some liquid oxygen that led to an explosion in the Starship upper stage after a couple of minutes.

MORE: How a destroyed rocket actually means progress to SpaceX

So what constitutes success in this third Starship launch?

I think a successful mission would be a nominal performance again of the first stage, and also the upper stage starship making it all the way to the Indian Ocean, where its anticipated to splash down. So its not going to make orbit. Its going to essentially reach orbital velocity and then fire its engines to come back to Earth.

And I guess in a sense, part of what would make this a success is whether or not SpaceX has learned what actually caused the problems in the prior two tests. Correct?

Absolutely. Theyre building on all those learnings. Theyre making technology upgrades. Theyre also going to try to do some tests while the vehicle is in space. It really is, as you said, an iterative process.

Theyre trying to go as fast as they can. And so they dont want to spend years sitting around conference tables designing and testing this vehicle. They want to fly it and see what happens and get data and get back into space as quickly as possible.

Well, the whole idea of partnerships and NASA is to expedite the lead time that you have going into these programs. And yet, the Artemis program announced a delay earlier this year. Does that have anything to do with Starship or something else?

Well, its a little bit complicated. The first delay they announced was for the second Artemis mission; this is going to fly humans around the moon next year. Starship is not involved in that because its the component that actually takes astronauts down to the lunar surface. So that delay was not related to Starship.

However, Artemis 3 will entail Starship, and the current date for that is 2026 and subject to future delays as the Starship development program continues.

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Very interesting. Now, Ive seen some writeups which suggest that the Starship program is really an attempt to get humans on Mars. Is that a lot of puffery? You know, the sort of ad talk that you hear an awful lot of in the space business? Or is this the real deal were talking about here?

Oh, I think its the real deal. I mean, SpaceX was literally founded to put humans on Mars. Ive talked to Elon at length about that. Ive talked to the earliest employees at SpaceX who were told that when they got there. That is the mission.

Theyre helping NASA out with its moon plans. But the goal of Starship is ultimately to carry dozens of people at a time to Mars and also to bring cargo missions with hundreds of tons of cargo to Mars to support settlements there.

So we are sort of on a step along that path. If SpaceX is successful, they have a lot of steps to take. But these test flights are very clearly a formative effort to build a vehicle a fully reusable, massive rocket that could support settlement of Mars.

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SpaceX to launch 3rd Starship test from Texas on Thursday - Texas Standard

Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, March 13, 2024:

After an absence due to COVID, colleges start looking for SAT, ACT scores again

The University of Texas announced that once again, all applicants looking to attend UT-Austin will need to submit standardized test scores beginning next year.

Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions author Jeff Selingo joins the Standard with more.

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Several bands have dropped out of the South by Southwest Conference and festivals, citing the presence of the U.S. Army and an aerospace contractor during the time of Israels war on Hamas.

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In Fort Bend, Black cowboys helped shape the countys history

As the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo continues in the heart of the city, just outside of the city limits, some are working to preserve the history of the regions Black cowboys.

Houston Public Medias Natalie Weber takes us to Fort Bend County for more on the legacy of the areas Black cowboys, ranchers and bull riders.

W.F. Strong takes us to the other Hill Country

Over the next couple of months, many Texans will set off for the Hill Country to enjoy the splendor of the wildflowers celebrating spring.

Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong suggests a route he calls the other hill country one far less traveled than its cousin to the west.

Will third time be the charm for SpaceXs Starship launch from Boca Chica?

SpaceX plans a new try at launching its Starship super heavy rocket on Thursday from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The previous two launches failed, but SpaceX says it learned a lot from the mishaps.

Eric Berger, senior space editor for the tech site Ars Technica, joins the show with more.

An obsidian blade and other treasures from Coronados Panhandle expedition

Almost 500 years ago, a caravan of roughly 2,000 people crossed the Texas Panhandle in their search for a city of gold. They never found that fabled treasure but those Spanish explorers left behind plenty of their own small treasures.

Southern Methodist University archeology director Matthew Boulanger joins the Standard with his discovery.

Over many objections, Uvalde absolves cops of their response to mass shooting

A city report released last week exonerated the Uvalde Police Department for its response to the Robb Elementary School shooting. Despite the report, Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez announced his resignation Tuesday.

For more on what all this means, the Standards speaking with the Texas Newsrooms Sergio Martnez-Beltrn.

All this, plus the Texas Newsrooms state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.

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Texas Standard for March 13, 2024: Will third time be the charm for SpaceX's Starship launch from Boca Chica? - Texas Standard

Details about SpaceXs proposed land swap deal with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (TPWC) keep getting uglier. After an overwhelming majority voted against the land exchange, the decision was delayed to March. Recent reports, however, suggest that the acres in question were already set aside for preservation and that an oil billionaire in Texas is helping Elon Musk seal the deal.

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TPWC is considering a land swap deal with SpaceX, acquiring around 477 acres near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge Bahia Grande Unit, and in exchange giving SpaceX approximately 43 acres from Boca Chica State Park. The decision was scheduled for a vote on January 25, but has now been delayed to March after the agency received more than 1,039 comments against the land exchange and 263 that were for it, according to the Texas Standard.

Although it has not been approved yet, the deal is endorsed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Chairman Jeffery Hildebrand, who publicly declared that he was committed to seeing it through it during a meeting on January 24. Hilderbrand is a Houston-based billionaire, the founder of Hilcorp Energyone of the largest oil and gas companies in the U.S.

The oil billionaire was appointed to his position as TPWC chair after donating $750,000 to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for his 2022 re-election campaign, according to a report by the Houston Chronicle. That same year, Hilderbrand donated a total of $1.97 million, mostly to Republican candidates and committees, making him the seventh largest political donor in Texas, the Austin American-Statesman reported at the time.

All that dough will get you places, and billionaires stick together at the top. With Hilderbrand in his position at TPWC, Musk has a friend at the agency, one that is supportive of SpaceXs plans to expand its launchpad in Boca Chica as it prepares the most powerful rocket ever built for lift off.

The nearly 500 acres thats being offered up in the land exchange deal is owned by Dallas and Nacogdoches-based Conservation Equity Management, a firm that sells environmental credits to private companies to offset their emissions or any other impact they may have on protected areas. SpaceX will likely buy the land from the firm and swap it for the 43 acres in South Texas, according to the San Antonio Express News. Before the land swap deal was proposed, others were hoping to bid on the 477 acres of coastal habitat for conservation efforts but now say they will likely not be able to match what SpaceX is offering, the local newspaper reported.

This is hardly a good deal for Texas; the big issue is that the 477 acres had already been slated for preservation, so if Hildebrand successfully completes the deal as he has promised, Texans will see no net gain of conserved acres, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Local environmentalists are also concerned that the land swap could pose a threat to conservation efforts in the area, with species listed under the Endangered Species Act occupying the surrounding wildlife habitat. Federal and state public lands surrounding the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica are used by hundreds of thousands of individual birds of many different species throughout the year, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) told Gizmodo in an email earlier in January.

ABC joined the Center for Biological Diversity and three local non-profit groups in Texas to sue the Federal Aviation Administration after the Starship rockets explosive test flight in April 2023, claiming that the FAA rushed its approval of SpaceXs expanded launch operations in Boca Chica without a proper environmental review. The inaugural liftoff of Starship sent chunks of debris thousands of feet across the South Texas landscape and sparked a fire in the nearby state park.

Earlier in 2022, an investigation from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that populations of snowy and piping ploverstwo shorebird speciesdropped drastically near the SpaceX site. The FWS also pointed to possible negative environmental impacts on multiple sea turtle species, as well as other shorebirds, like red knots, should SpaceX expand its launch site.

TPWD claims that the land exchange deal will allow it to expand its management and protection of Texas natural resources and enhance recreational opportunity while allowing necessary expansion of SpaceXs facilities and operations in Texas, the agency told Gizmodo in an email in January.

In the lead-up to the next meeting on March 27 to discuss the land swap deal, Hilderbrand seems confident that the decision will pass. I am committed to moving this process forward and completing the transaction, he said during a public meeting on January 24. Of course he is.

Want to know more about Elon Musks space venture? Check out our full coverage of SpaceXs Starship megarocket and the SpaceX Starlink internet satellite megaconstellation. And for more spaceflight in your life, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page.

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Texas Billionaire's Push for Land Swap With Elon's SpaceX Is Total Crap - Gizmodo

British Consul General Richard Hyde had an item to cross off his bucket list as he made the rounds with local officials Tuesday during an economic development tour of Texas.

Hyde, who represents the United Kingdom from his office in Houston,stopped by the Dr Pepper Museum in downtown Waco for a quick tour of the former bottling plant and a dose of his favorite soft drink.

British Consul General Richard Hyde gets a drink at the Dr Pepper Museum during a stop in Waco on a Texas road trip.

Hyde said he learned only recently that Dr Pepper was invented in Waco. He said the drink tastes better in the U.S. than in the United Kingdom, where it is not as common.

"I love it," he said, with a plastic cup of Diet Dr Pepper in his hand. "Growing up in England we never had Dr Pepper. We were introduced to it only through fountain drinks. It was only when I came here that I realized actually ... this is by far the best diet drink."

Hyde and senior staff from the consulate began their 1,600-mile tour last week in Grand Prairie, traveling northwest toward Lubbock then to Amarillo before making the trip back southeast. Hyde said the road trip will help the staff get a better understanding of the Lone Star State, helping to inform trade discussions and opportunities.

Hyde said hes been doing the Texas trips for four years, traveling the first time to Midland, Odessa and El Paso before making his way down the border to Boca Chica. In September 2022 he embarked on a second trip to Texarkana, Kilgore, Nacogdoches and Wichita Falls, but the trip was cut short when Queen Elizabeth II passed away that month.

We were determined to find an opportunity to come out and finish the job and go to the Panhandle and visit all those kind of much more remote areas of Texas for us, he said. Now, Waco doesnt really fit into that because Waco is somewhere thats much, much closer to home, but its a town that we too often just go through because were flitting backwards and forwards to Dallas, to Austin.

British Consul General Richard Hyde made a stop Tuesday at the Dr Pepper Museum during a tour of Texas.

The road trips focus on cities outside of the Houston, Dallas and Austin the Texas Trianglespending time in more rural areas to better understand the full picture of Texas economic opportunities for U.K. investors.

We spent a lot of time shuttling between the big cities and thats great, I mean, theyre hugely important, massive cities, Hyde said. But we actually think theres a lot more across Texas that we need to understand in order to help companies who are looking to establish in Texas to have a full kind of range of options.

By getting their boots dirty, he said he hopes to show Texans that the U.K. population is young and dynamic, while also reversing Texas stereotypes in the U.K. to tell a more accurate tale and in turn better facilitate relationships.

The U.K.-U.S. relationship is so important, and what we spend a lot of time doing really is trying to paint a picture of Texas that reflects the modernity, the diversity, the economic opportunity, he said.

Christina Luhn, senior trade policy adviser from the U.S., said her job is to help her British counterparts understand the cultural signposts and iconic symbols in Texas. Hyde credited Luhn for encouraging the tour, as "youve got to get to every bit of the state to understand the state.

British Consul General Richard Hyde (left) and Deputy Consul General Tim Cork take a look at ingredients at the Dr Pepper Museum during their stop in Waco. Senior staff from the British Consulate in Houston are taking a tour around Texas to better understand the state in pursuit of economic opportunities.

Many of the cities the group has visited along the way are smaller, more rural cities that arent growing in population, but Waco doesnt fit that mold, Hyde said. Even though Waco is surrounded by big magnet cities, it is growing significantly and there are some big companies finding a home here, he said.

You know, we were asking what were the big sectors? he said. We were quite surprised to hear theres quite a big service-based industry here as well, and that really surprised me a little bit because the U.K. is very much a service-based economy, financial services, legal services, professional services, and so were always looking for opportunities to kind of promote that.

Hyde said hes also interested in looking at how to foster better academic collaborations between U.K. and Texas universities, naming Baylor and Texas Tech University along his route.

Through conversations with farmers hes learned about cattle, dairy and crop industries and the hardships they face, and he said hell take what hes gained on his trip back to his Houston office to find the best opportunities for both Texas and the U.K. Though they may reside in rural areas, those farmers at the heart of the global market are using highly advanced technology and trading globally, Deputy Consul General Tim Cork said.

Its really big economically, but its also really big culturally as well, Hyde said. So you know, Texans associate closely with kind of rural, rugged individualism so being able to talk to farmers gives you a real flavor of whats going on."

British Consul General Richard Hyde made a stop by the Dr Pepper Museum on Tuesday during a tour of Texas.

On Hydes visit Tuesday he met with Mayor Dillon Meek and the Waco economic development team, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Farm Bureau, engaging in conversations about what makes Texans tick.

Hyde and Cork shared connections theyve noticed between the U.K. and Texas on their trip, like when they were given a recommendation for a steak restaurant in Amarillo and found out it was British-owned, or when they found out that Dean Sandeep Mazumder of Baylors Hankamer School of Business is also British.

Theres always a British link, Cork said.

At the Dr Pepper Museum, Cork, Luhn and Hyde swapped memories about their first experiences with the Waco-born beverage.

Luhn, the American adviser, shared stories of being a young kid and bottling her own fresh Dr Pepper on an old-school bottling machine.

The three went back and forth trying to decide who is a "pepper," defined by the Dr Pepper Company as a person who loved Dr Pepper. Theyre positive, self-confident, bold, and willing to try something new. Peppers are proud. And Peppers are popular, according to a plaque on the wall of the museum.

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British consul gets taste of Waco and Dr Pepper on Texas road ... - Waco Tribune-Herald

Elon Muskwho famously tweeted in 2020 that, after selling off his California estate, he would "own no house"may be putting down roots after all. The Tesla executive has reportedly been in the process of building an all-glass home through a secret company project near Austin, Texas, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Plans for the construction of what is apparently known as "Project 42" have evolved since they were first drawn up last year. One concept featured a building shaped like a twisted hexagon, with waterfront views and Tesla's factory nearby. Other renderings highlighted a big glass box "with a residential area that appeared to include bedrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen," the newspaper stated.

Some Tesla employees were reportedly concerned after an order was placed for millions of dollars of large-format glass panels, which allegedly resulted in an internal investigation by Tesla lawyers and board members into the potential misuse of company resources. But, according to the WSJ, both the outcome of Tesla's investigation and the status of the project are unknown.

Musk has long been vocal about his lack of desire for a permanent residence, noting that he's slept at the offices of his companies and in friends' spare bedrooms. In 2021, he revealed that he rents a $50,000 prefab tiny house in Boca Chica, Texas, from his company SpaceX.

Should Musk go through with the whole glass house concept, the billionaire would draw even more resemblances to his fictional counterpart in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery who lives in a glass structure. (Is this a case of life imitating art that imitates life?) And while a glass home certainly gives off a futuristic vibe that feels on brand for Musk, living in a glass structure can certainly have its drawbacks. Apart from the lack of privacy, glass doesn't offer any insulationmeaning the material can lead to uncomfortable temperatures during extreme weather. Plus, the lack of curtains or shades can expose furniture and fabrics to the sun's rays, potentially causing fading and discoloration. Not to mention, a see-through structure makes it harder to fend off burglars. Finally, of course, you know what they say about people who live in glass houses: They shouldn't throw stones.

You love beautiful homes. So do we. Lets obsess over them together.

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Associate Editor

Kelly Allen is the current Associate Editor at House Beautiful, where she covers design, pop culture, and travel for digital and the print magazine. Shes been with the team for nearly three years, attending industry events and covering a range of topics. When shes not watching every new TV show and movie, shes browsing vintage home stores, admiring hotel interiors, and wandering around New York City. She previously worked for Delish and Cosmopolitan. Follow her on Instagram.

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Elon Musk Reportedly Tapped Tesla Funds to Build Himself a ... - House Beautiful

Collecting seashells and using them to decorate sandcastles is a beloved childhood pastime, and one little-known Texas beach has more than any other in the state. Nestled in the Rio Grande Valley, the remote Boca Chica State Park is a magical escape perfect for your next family trip.

White sandy beaches extend as far as the eye can see, allowing for boundless outdoor adventure and a chance to get away from it all.

Camping right on the beach is permitted, so bring your tent or RV!

They come in all different shapes and sizes, with no two bearing an exact resemblance.

Don't forget to bring a camera! The precious memories you'll make deserve to be documented.

The potentially deadly Portuguese man o' war has been known to wash up on the beach, so keep your eyes peeled at all times!

Other types include the Corys Shearwater, Leachs Storm-Petrel, and Magnificent Frigatebird.

Toward the end of the road, you'll begin to see the rolling dunes, pearly white sands, and crystal-clear waters that signify your arrival at Boca Chica Beach.

Click here to learn more about the beach.

Have you ever been to Boca Chica State Park? If so, did you see a lot of seashells? Tell us all about your experience in the comments section below, and check out our previous article for more places in the Rio Grande Valley worth visiting.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.

Address: Boca Chica Blvd, Brownsville, TX 78521, USA

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Boca Chica State Park Is A Hidden Texas Beach Covered In Seashells

Warnings and hazards

Overnight camping is prohibited

Beware of thejellyfish (after storms)

Dogs are allowed on a leash only

Alcohol-free area

Boca Chica Beach is a long and narrow strip of sand running through arid Texas lands along the Gulf shore for about eight miles from the Lower Laguna Madre to the Rio Grande delta. Located on the southernmost point of the state, this place features no businesses or facilities and is remarkably empty and tranquil a perfect holiday destination to escape from civilization.

There are plenty of desolate areas at the beach where youre likely to see no other visitors only wildlife, like red knots and brown pelicans.

The beach is open 24 hours daily and entrance is free. To get to Boca Chica, youll have to drive about twenty-three miles east on Texas Highway 4 from Brownsville until you reach the dead-end and finally find yourself at the beach. If you travel in a street-licensed vehicle, driving on the sand is allowed.

Parking will be no problem either since you can park directly on site. Nevertheless, note that overnight camping at the beach is prohibited.

If you decide to visit Boca Chica Beach, you should prepare for such inconvenience as the absence of restrooms, changing rooms, and rinse showers. No food outlets, concessions, or restaurants are present on-site either. Bring your own food supplies and any beach and sports equipment you may need. Moreover, youd better also take a first-aid kit with a jellyfish sting relief, insect repellent, and sunscreen.

Boca Chica Beach is a part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge and, thus, is protected by authorities of various levels. The area features such natural phenomena as mangrove marshes, tidal salt flats, and clay dunes. The water is clear emerald and very clean, good for swimming or doing some water sports.

If youre interested to see wild animals or birds, Boca Chica Beach is a great spot for that. In the spring and summer months, you can witness some of the rarest sea turtles nesting on the shore. Birdwatching will also bring you some bright impressions since you have good chances to spot osprey, hawks, peregrine and aplomado falcons at this beach.

Apart from typical sunbathing and swimming, Boca Chica Beach is a perfect place for diverse outdoor activities, such as picnicking, birdwatching, fishing, snorkeling, kiteboarding, or surfing. Dont forget to bring your own equipment for whatever you decide to do during your beach holiday.

If you're considering staying for one or even a few nights, there are plenty of options available near the beach. Chose your preferred accomodation type and your favourite room provider:

Additionally, there's a number of beaches near Boca Chica Beach which you can visit:

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Boca Chica Beach in Brownsville, Texas - BeachCatcher.com

[EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated with a response from Cameron County.]

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) SpaceX on Monday changed its plans again and announced that Boca Chica Beach could be closed for most of this work week for tests, according to a new memo obtained by Border Report.

Border Report on Monday morning had obtained a memo sent Sunday sent to Agency Partners and labeled FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY that said Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) will conduct testing 9/12/2022 through 9/16/22 and Hwy. 4 and Boca Chica Beach will be closed.

But a couple hours after Border Report made inquiries to Cameron County and SpaceX asking why such lengthy beach closures were needed, SpaceX issued another memo on Monday afternoon that said Space Exploration Technologies, Corp. (SpaceX) has revoked closure dateson 9/13 through 9/16 and Hwy 4 and Boca Chica Beach will be open.

Then on Monday afternoon, the company announced that it was closing the beach on Tuesday for tests and could possibly be closed on Wednesday and Thursday if more time is needed to finish the exercises.

The beach was closed on Monday for tests, just four days after a massive grassfire burned dozens of acres during a rocket test Thursday.

The fire raised the ire of environmentalists who say SpaceX is damaging the ecosystem and threatening local wildlife.

Its outrageous! The public is just losing their beach even though they have a right to it, Jim Chapman, an environmentalist with the grassroots group SaveRGV and vice president of the nonprofit Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, told Border Report on Monday.

SpaceX says jump and the county says how high?' Chapman said.

The Sunday memo obtained by Border Report was not posted on Cameron Countys website where closures of Boca Chica Beach are listed.

But Monday afternoon a letter signed by Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevio Jr., approving the closure of Boca Chica Beach for SpaceX non-flight testing activities from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m on Tuesday, and allowing Wednesday and Thursday as alternate dates to complete its testing activities was posted on the countys website.

After the posting, Juan Gonzalez, chief counsel for Cameron County, sent Border Report an email on Monday afternoon saying the closures requested and approved for September 13th14thand 15thexperienced a miscommunication between SpaceX and Cameron County that has now been corrected.

Border Report has reached out to SpaceX to ask why they needed so many testing days, and to explain the fire that ensued following the Sept. 8 rocket test on the remote area that borders Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico.

This story will be updated if a response is received.

On May 29, 2020, Border Report captured on video an explosion at the same SpaceX launch facility as it was conducting tests.

SpaceX wants to launch its Starship/Super Heavy spacecraft from South Texas and is conducting multiple tests with that goal despite pushback from local environmentalists and many residents who are angered every time the 20-mile stretch of rural highway and public beach are closed.

In June, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)on the agencys environmental review of SpaceXs request to launch the largest spacecraft known to Earth from the rural South Texas border beach.

SpaceX tweeted Thursday that the private space company had completed a 6-engine static fire test at Starbase, which is the name the company has given for its commercial spaceport in South Texas.

Several posts on social media asked about a fire that was immediately seen after the test firings but the company did not reply or explain.

The grassfire lasted about five hours after the SpaceX test.

Chapman said the fire occurred on state-owned lands and Texas Parks & Wildlife allowed it to burn itself out rather than step onto sensitive wildlands to extinguish the blaze.

Chapmans group, Save RGV, along with the Sierra Club and the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe, have sued the Texas General Land Office, Land Commissioner George P. Bush and Cameron County challenging the closure of a public state beach in Texas, which they say is a violation of Texas Open Beaches Act.

However, a judge in July ruled the groups have no right to sue these organizations.

Chapmans group is appealing and he said Monday he wishes they could do more, especially with so many recent beach closures.

An activist with SaveRGV told Border Report that SpaceX has caused over 600 hours of closures of Boca Chica Beach so far this year.

Theyre way, way, way over their limit for closures, Chapman said. We should do something.

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EXCLUSIVE: SpaceX closing South Texas public beach for entire workweek ...

The interior of a Boxabl instant house. Boxabl/Twitter

The worlds second richest man Elon Musk, despite a net worth of $166 billion, famously doesnt want to own any assets so that he can focus on the bigger missions of making Earth greener (Tesla) and moving human beings to Mars (SpaceX). Hes not kidding. The multi-billionaire recently said hed sold all of his mansions in California except for one event house in the Bay Area.

But the man still needs a place to live. Earlier this month, Musk tweeted that his primary residence now is a small rented house in Boca Chica, Texas, near SpaceXs development and test site.

The Houston Chronicle revealed in a Monday report what the inside of Musks humble home looked like: Its literally a boxa mass-produced, 20 feet x 20 feet foldable, prefabricated home made by Boxabl, a startup making modular instant houses.

The Boxabl Casita Musk reportedly lives in is set up like a studio apartment, with one large room partitioned into a living room and bedroom area, a fully equipped kitchen band a bathroom with a tub shower, the Chronicle reported.

Its kinda awesome though, Musk tweeted.

Last November, Boxabl posted a video on YouTube announcing that the company had just built a Casita house for a high-profile and top-secret customer in Boca Chica. The customer was apparently related to SpaceX because the house shown in the video had a poster of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the door.

The identity of that top-secret customer became even clearer after Musk tweeted earlier this month that his current home is a $50,000 house in Boca Chica.

On Sunday, the YouTuber Meet Kevin tweeted that hed asked Boxabl CEO whether Musk currently lives in a Boxabl house. The CEO replied, Cant say.

Boxabls official handle later retweeted Meet Kevins post with a wink-wink reply, No comment.

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Elon Musks New Permanent Home Is a $50,000 BoxTake a ... - Observer

The Chevy Bolt EV is still alive as it delivers a record quarter of sales. Theres so much demand that GM announced its plans to increase production which is hardly shocking because the car is a steal at its current price point.

The Bolt EV seemed to be on life support for a while now. We had doubts that it would stay in GMs lineup as the automaker launched a new generation of electric vehicles based on its Ultium platform making the Bolt EV show its age.

Of course, the now fixed battery fires that led to a recall of all Bolt EV batteries also didnt help the EVs case.

But recently, GM confirmed that the Bolt EV and the bigger Bolt EUV are going to stay in its lineup for now. When we visited the Chevy experience center, they told us as much and showed us the big differences between the Equinox and the Bolt most notably the width of the cars, interior, charging speed and drive options.

Today, GM released its Q3 2022 delivery results, and the automaker confirmed that the Bolt EV and EUV had their best combined quarter for deliveries with almost 15,000 deliveries in the US:

Record quarterly sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, which totaled 14,709 units combined.

GM also expects another record quarter in Q4 since it now has delivered about 22,000 Bolt EVs and EUVs so far this year, but it now says that it expects about 44,000 vehicles in 2022.

We heard from sources that GM has already produced a lot of Bolt EVs that are sitting, waiting for chips. If they come in Q4, it could help GM quickly ramp up deliveries during the last few months of the year.

Now GM says that it plans to go from 44,000 Bolt EV and EUV vehicles in 2022 to more than 70,000 in 2023:

In response to unprecedented customer demand, GM plans to increase calendar-year production for global markets from approximately 44,000 vehicles in 2022 to more than 70,000 in 2023.

It is not exactly surprising that GM is seeing high demand for the electric vehicle considering thatthe 2023 Chevy Bolt EV and EUV got a significant $6,000 price cutwhen most other EVs in the US are seeing price increases.

Electrek previously reported that the price decrease has made the Chevy Bolt EV the best value EV in the US, though some dealers have taken the opportunity to markup the price.

You can check withyour local dealers for GM Bolt EV inventoryto see if you can find a deal.

Despite the focus on the Ultium platform, the Bolt EV/EUV is still responsible for the vast majority of GMs EV deliveries with smaller numbers coming from the Ultium-based Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq.

GM is reporting only 36 Cadillac Lyriq deliveries and 411 GMC Hummer EV deliveries in Q3, but it disclosed that there should be a big ramp-up in Q4:

Cadillac LYRIQ production will increase in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. Additional production shifts for GMC HUMMER EV are planned for 2023. All of GMs 2023 EV launches, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Chevrolet Blazer EV (summer) and Chevrolet Equinox EV (fall), are on schedule.

With the Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV which are due in 2023, things should ramp up massively for GM on the EV front in Q4 and entering 2023.

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Chevy Bolt EV lives with record sales, GM wants to increase production - Electrek.co