Local News

Small Texas Town Must Deal With Living Next to Rocket Launchpad

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Near Brownsville, a small Texas town called Boca Chica Village is home to a few dozen people who are now living next to a private space rocket company’s launchpad – whether they like it or not.

SpaceX South Texas launchpad sits inside Boca Chica State Park near a beach which will be closed off to residents once a month for launch days. But this isn’t the main concern for Boca Chica Villagers, the town itself might have to be “cut off” on launch days, which means no ins or outs since they must adhere to SpaceX’s safety requirements on active days.

Residents are questioning the legality of these issues and are considering suing the company, but the rest of the world is looking on in wonder of SpaceX’s missions. SpaceX has served as NASA’s space cargo contractor by getting supplies to the International Space Station. According to Nature World News, SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s “ultimate goal is to have humans live on multiple planets through affordable, reliable rockets. And so he made buying a rocket as simple as purchasing a car, albeit more expensive.” Musk’s endeavors are fascinating, but the residents of Boca Chica Village aren’t in awe with the location being so close to home.