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Southern border wall could run through SpaceX's Texas facility

You've Been Grounded

Southern border wall could run through SpaceX's Texas facility

Rendering versus reality: the proposed Starship spacecraft, left, against the actual prototype, right. (Elon Musk/Twitter)

Elon Musk’s woes aren’t slowing down, as Bloomberg has discovered that the Trump administration’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall would cut through the SpaceX launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

The 50-acre facility, which received $20 million in incentives from the Texas state government, is being used to build and test a new spacecraft called the Starship, which Musk hopes will one day deploy from a SpaceX Falcon rocket and ferry passengers to Mars. The reusable, stainless-steel clad shuttle has been in the news recently for ignoble reasons, namely because it was knocked over by the strong Southern Texas winds last month.

According to documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the border wall would cut directly through a SpaceX launchpad. Rio Grande Valley representatives are pushing to have the facility exempted from any border wall construction, but SpaceX has been conspicuously quiet—a company official told Bloomberg that SpaceX is trying to lie low and avoid drawing DHS’s attention.

“The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently requested SpaceX permit access to our South Texas Launch site to conduct a site survey,” James Gleeson, a SpaceX spokesperson. “At this time, SpaceX is evaluating the request and is in communication with DHS to further understand their plans.”

As negotiations over the fate of the border wall drag on (and break down), it remains to be seen whether lawmakers will be able to come to a compromise over border funding before February 15. After the record-breaking 35-day partial government shutdown was temporarily halted to give the House, Senate, and President time to maneuver on border security, it now appears that, if no agreement is reached, border wall construction could begin via a national emergency declaration.

Regardless of whether Congress allocates $2 billion, the full $5.7 billion, or nothing, border wall construction has been previously funded in fits and starts. Even as deliberations in Washington drag on, the National Butterfly Center (also in the Rio Grande Valley area) filed an emergency restraining order this week as excavators began laying the groundwork for a 36-foot-tall wall that would cut through the nature sanctuary.

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