--- title: SpaceX To Build Launch Site In Texas description: The launch site for billionaire Elon Musk's space transportation company will be built in one of the poorest cities in America. canonical: https://time.com/3083090/spacex-texas/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-05T18:26:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:02:54.095Z article:section: Science og:title: SpaceX To Build Launch Site In Texas og:description: The launch site for billionaire Elon Musk's space transportation company will be built in one of the poorest cities in America. og:url: https://time.com/3083090/spacex-texas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7037cbdfc156bddd/69869e7c3617602c3890d589/494587915.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Unveils The Dragon V2 Space Taxi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: SpaceX To Build Launch Site In Texas twitter:description: The launch site for billionaire Elon Musk's space transportation company will be built in one of the poorest cities in America. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7037cbdfc156bddd/69869e7c3617602c3890d589/494587915.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # SpaceX Is Building a New Launch Site In Texas by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Aug 5, 2014 6:26 PM UTC  Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), speaks at the unveiling of the Manned Dragon V2 Space Taxi in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 29, 2014\. T Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), speaks at the unveiling of the Manned Dragon V2 Space Taxi in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 29, 2014\. TBloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Aug 5, 2014 6:26 PM UTC Texas Governor Rick Perry announced Monday that private space company SpaceX will build the first-ever exclusively commercial launch site near Brownsville, Texas. SpaceX, owned and operated by PayPal billionaire Elon Musk, received a $2.3 million investment from the state to build its site in Texas. Brownsville has a median income of $30,000, and nearly 40% of Brownsville’s population lives below the poverty line — the highest percentage in the country. Perry said in his announcement that the SpaceX site will bring 300 new jobs and inject $85 million into the local economy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3083090/spacex-texas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3083090/spacex-texas/"},"headline":"SpaceX Is Building a New Launch Site In Texas","datePublished":"2014-08-05T18:26:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:54.095Z","description":"The next launch site for billionaire Elon Musk's space company will be built in one of the poorest cities in America","url":"https://time.com/3083090/spacex-texas/","keywords":["Space","Tech","Texas","Science topic","rockets","Elon Musk","Outer Space","SpaceX","space travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7037cbdfc156bddd/69869e7c3617602c3890d589/494587915.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7037cbdfc156bddd/69869e7c3617602c3890d589/494587915.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Unveils The Dragon V2 Space Taxi","caption":"SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Unveils The Dragon V2 Space Taxi","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3083090/spacex-texas/","name":"SpaceX Is Building a New Launch Site In Texas"}}]}] ```