Have you ever heard of SpaceX's abandoned Starship Factory? What about Curiosity Stream? Today's SpaceX video is supported by Curiosity Stream. Sign up at curiositystream.com/PrimalSpace using the code ‘PrimalSpace’ and receive one full year for only $14.99.
What about this abandoned Starship factory though? SpaceX’s site in Boca Chica has become the heart of Starship. Producing the largest and most powerful rocket ever made, it’s no surprise that this tiny town in Texas has received an enormous amount of attention over the last few years. But SpaceX’s lesser known Florida site could have become the Boca Chica we know and love today. This video looks at why SpaceX chose Boca Chica over Florida, what happened to Florida’s Starship and any plans to restart the Florida program.
Thanks to these awesome people for their resources:
Spaceport3d - / spaceport3d
Cosmic Perspective - / cosmicperspective
LabPadre - / labpadre
Andy’s Trains N Things - / andystrainsnthings
Austin Barnard - / austinbarnard
Starship Gazer - / starshipgazer
John Winkopp - / winkopp788156
NASASpaceflight - / nasaspaceflightvideos
John Randolph - / dnarnhoj
Tommy J. Saenz - / @tommyjsaenz
WKMG News - / wkmgnews6clickorlando
Thanks to @FarryFaz for her awesome thumbnail photograph: / farryfaz
References:
primalnebula.com/spacexs-aban...
Thanks for watching this Primal Space video. If you enjoyed it, let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe so you can see more videos like this!
Support Primal Space by becoming a Patron!
/ primalspace
Twitter: / theprimalspace
Music used in this video:
» Vaquero Perdido - The Mini Vandals
» Double You - The Mini Vandals
» Sprightly Pursuit - Cooper Cannell
» Go Down Swinging - NEFFEX
» Sunset Trails - DJ Williams
» Sunrise In Paris - Dan Henig
Credits:
Written and edited by Ewan Cunningham ( / ewan_cee )
Narrated by: Beau Stucki (beaustucki.com/)
#SpaceX #Starship #ElonMusk
Do you think Florida will eventually become SpaceX's main Starship factory? - Shout out to CuriosityStream for supporting this vid! Check out curiositystream.com/PrimalSpace
That is a hard question to answer. Of course in the near future Florida will continue launching Falcon 9's as well as beginning to launch Starship, especially with the moon missions approaching. However, long term? Elon already has two ex-oilrigs he is converting to launch platforms. Remember the 'goal' is to colonize mars. So with that in mind, if SpaceX can predict the locations of future launch sites, they may choose a factory location accessible to all. I can imagine in typical Musk style it will be a massive plot, built from scratch like his giga factories.
yes. without question
Repent to Jesus Christ “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 NIV I
i live 33 mils from his raptor 2 manufacturing site in McGregor, Texas he is pissing off a lot of people and cracking the foundations of houses
I don’t like either state but if I had to pick between Texas & Floriduh…. We’ll let’s be real Floriduh doesn’t deserve a pot to shit in. Crime is worse, housing is worse, smog is worse, weather is worse, police are worse, government is corrupt, 42% of all housing is within a corrupt homeowners association, it’s the only state proven in court to have successfully overturned the election of am President by allowing their sec of state to commit fraud & illegally discount legal registered Floriduh voters an act of treason in which nobody in govt was charged of a crime because the man they illegally put in office was the brother of the fucking Governor now how the heck could anyone who claims to be American endorse a pos state who committed treason to put the man not elected into office? Not to mention, remember 90% of the state will be under water in 2100. It seems even GOD hates Floriduh. Don’t blame me, I’m not god.
"And we have touchdown on mars" would be such a historic statement
Bunch of times already (hardware).
not gonna happen.
@@jebes909090 It could.
@@TheScarnak it will
Tango Delta
I visited this site back in August 2019, when they were still actively building the Starship there. We’re from Germany and visited the Cape during a holiday, so being able to see this build site - which was still relatively secret back then - was a life-changing moment. I’m glad it’s getting the recognition it deserves now!
@N7 more Americans are going to be familiar with Germans than the Dutch people.
Never knew how much the Florida site was used before Boca Chica, thank you!
chica.
@@fluffypuffyboy586 thank you 😂
@@SpaceflightRocketShorts boca china 🇨🇳😂great name to be fair
@@fluffypuffyboy586 yes!
as i understand they're braking few laws in boca chica, but that's not a big deal if you're one of these musk fanboys...
Great video with amazing quality as always. :D
@Michael Jaxton don't focus on bad things. There will be I tiny amount of fake information in every video. However they're are putting lots of effort in their videos and I appreciate that. Anyways what information of this video was false and misleading?
Great concise video. Thanks for the awesome captions / subtitles!
Am simply loving these wonderful and very useful info...heard about Florida centre but didnt know some of the insights and with this video I got to know it...thank you :)
very informative video. keep doing stuff on space x and tesla. love it 💖
I love these kinds of videos. Please never stop making SpaceX/Tesla videos. Love the work btw, thanks.
also, you kinda have my pfp O-O
i think he makes a bit too many spacex videos, there's a lot of other space topics/companies to explore
@@tgn2502 There definately are more realistic projects going on. But the cult of Musk is powerfull and to doubt the great leader is to invoke the wrath of the Musketeers who simply refuse to ever think critically about anything Musk does. There is no need to go to Mars except for research, there is no market for a 100ton payload capacity, starlink cannot ever become profitable and the people it is supposedly made for cannot afford it, the vegas loop is just a tunnel with cars driving laps losing money.... It's nice to dream and we should explore space and new technology, but we must also remain honest and critical. Musk has lied about being the founder of Paypal and Tesla, he has thuroughly defrauded his shareholders with the solarcity bailout. Just how blind are the muskfans? Go on, hate me, you'll thank me later.
Repent to Jesus Christ “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 NIV
I enjoyed this overview, even as an avid tank watcher since 2018. You've got a really smooth style.
Great video and production quality. Respect
I live super close to this place and in cocoa and its cool to see someone acknowledge our small town and the area. i got to drive past it not that long ago.
Very good video. Clear, concise, with a solid timeline. Thank you...
This is amazing quality!
Thank you fo enlightening us the reason behind launch and building sites
I've been looking at this place every time I drive to Merritt island
Isn’t there active development at KSC right now?
regarding spacex starship infrastructure you mean? Yes, very much so :).
There are already two sections of the OLT completed awaiting transport to the launch pad when the concrete foundation is finished.
I hauled some of the first piping for the launch cooling system, from Titusville, FL. then it was just a sandy field, pretty awesome to see where they are today
I wasn't sure if I was going to watch this "Oh, just another Starship video...". I'm so glad I did. Great video!!
I never tire of your transitions.
Thank you for the video I live a short distance away from the SpaceX facility in Cocoa have a couple pictures that I took driving past of the starship they were building and I've been wondering what happened there. Something I find funny is from grissom parkway they just built an Amazon warehouse now you can see the SpaceX facility from grissom it's a shame I got a kick ass in that big silver beast going up now I have to wait to see it launched
Great video, can't wait to see what starship gigafactory can do.
I lived in Waco 9 yrs and Space X at McGregor TX was just 12 miles down the road. That's a huge complex as well and employs a lot of people.
I have always lived off grissom parkway, and when the starship hype started back in 2018-19, I was incredibly invested. You can only imagine when I found out they were building another one right down the road! I have been by a couple times now and I must say that shit is incredible, even if it is the smaller abandoned-like factory. They definitely still get work done out there though!
I still drive back there from time to time to figure out what they're doing, but I can't quite figure it out. The site is busy, with an active security guard and a full parking lot.
This is The Only documentary You'll need to get you upto speed with SpaceX.. Very thorough,little twaddle or jargon..Good Work Sir...
Thank you so much. So glad that you enjoyed the content!
@@primalspace liked n subscribed
Excellent video and topic
The fact that this video could have been called "Why there is an abandoned Starship facility in Texas" is just so cool and amazing to think about!
Boca Chica will still be used. It will be used as the testing site for all future iterations of Starship with at least 5 launches per year taking place for testing.
@@lesschorlemer5151 if environmentalists have a say, there will never be launches from there. That's why they're accelerating operations in Florida.
@@Round_Slinger SpaceX always planned to have Starship operations in Florida. Apparently, Boca Chica was as much about learning how to build a Starship launch facility as it is testing Starships. As the video mentions, work at Florida and LC-39A was started before work at Boca Chica really took off. SpaceX paused the work at KSC and now that SpaceX apparently knows what they want from a Starship launch facility, they are restarting work there. Les is right about the 5 orbital and 5 sub-orbital launches a year at Boca Chica. It is almost certainly due to the Texas state law about not being able to restrict access to public beaches. The Texas legislature had to modify that law a few years ago to even allow SpaceX the limited closures that they have now. Some Texans are saying that SpaceX closes the beach too much already. So unless Texas pretty much makes Boca Chica beach a private beach, a heavy launch cadence at Boca Chica isn't going to happen. One thing this video forgot to talk about is that Crew Dragon, Falcon Heavy, and Falcon 9 launches from LC-39A. IF SpaceX had stayed in Florida, they would have had to work Starship testing around launches from LC-39A. Crew Dragon and Falcon Heavy can only launch from LC-39A right now. Crew Dragon started crew flights in early 2020 and USSF-44 was scheduled to launch in Feb 2021 on Falcon Heavy (it has had payload delays). SLC-40 at CCSFS is only Falcon 9 cargo launches and SpaceX likes to rotate Falcon 9 launches between LC-39A and SLC-40 as much as possible to keep the cadence up.
There isn't an abandoned Starship facility in Texas. There's an abandoned Starship facility in Florida.
@@TimCortesi Sorry Tex the future of Starship is in Florida where the infrastructure and permitting already exist.
Thanks for good stuff.
Gosh, I like the structure of the Starship, as Im reminded of the 60's marionette show Thunderbirds are go.❤️🤗🇨🇦
Good motorcycle riding on the roads around there xD
Fascinating!!!
Excellent video!
Great video 🚀
I was waiting for you
Thanks for this👍🇳🇿
Good video but the title of video needs some work. SpaceX hasn't abandoned Florida at all. In fact it may become their main facility soon, depending on the outcome of the FAA report that should come out soon.
The title of all videos on this channel are like that. For the 1st half of each video I always feel like I must have clicked on the wrong one because the titles are very misleading.
SpaceX always planned to launch from Florida. The biggest reason Boca Chica is not likely to be a main hub for Starship launches is the Texas state law on restricting access to public beaches. The Texas legislature had to change that law a few years ago to allow SpaceX even the limited closures that they have now. Boca Chica looks to be restricted to 5 orbital launches and 5 sub-orbital launches a year for Starship. So it is apparently going to be an R&D center and almost certainly support the converted oil rigs in international waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
2 Videos later and I'm subbed and all notifications on. The only crime I'm guilty of is not finding you earlier.
With activity growing in Florida, maybe it's time to build the third launch pad that was originally intended for the Apollo rockets. Look at the upper right of this diagram where it says "Launch Complex 39". Those 3 black dots are the proposed launch pad sites. Only the lower 2 were built. You can see how a third pad could be added though: www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/images/m240.gif
SpaceX is already working with NASA and the FAA for using the unbuilt LC-49 for Starship. It is north of LC-39B, so around where the topmost black dot is from your pic.
@@steveaustin2686 That makes sense. LC-39C was going to have an access road for the crawler to move Saturn V's there, but since SpaceX will not be using NASA's VAB and it will be a completely separate operation they re-designated the third pad with a separate moniker. Thanks for the info. All of the details for the creation the original site, including LC-39 A and B, the VAB, the crawler and crawler roadway and more can be read here: history.nasa.gov/SP-4204/contents.html
@@Doggeslife Thank you for the NASA history link. LC-39C was built in 2015, just not to the plans from the Apollo era. It's apparently a small sat launch pad within LC-39B and no one has used it yet. NASA Space Flight has a nice article about LC-49 from late last year.
@@steveaustin2686 Can you please post a link to that article?
@@wpatrickw2012 I tried posting it when I made my last post, but every time I tried to post the URL, the post disappeared. Here is the title, author, and date. NASA promotes East Coast Starship option at LC-49 following SpaceX interest written by Chris Bergin December 17, 2021
Luckily elon confirmed Florida will be the main starship launch site and there is already evidence of it being built
It was always going to be that way, Florida just has the best options for launch trajectories that don't go over land while also being about as far south as you can get in the US. They'll probably launch out of Vandenberg at some point as well.
@@danieljensen2626 yeah but as far as we knew we didn't know it 100% after they stopped using the old build site.
if the enviromental review is delayed again then i bet the florida KSC site will be sped up majorly
It already has been. Tower sections are already being built, concrete pads are being built, and fuel tanks are already being delivered.
Higher quality video ..thanks. It's how to do it.
I’ve been to this site a couple years ago on vacation!
Here's hoping the Florida construction goes well. They might need it if Boca Chica gets hit with the full EIS requirement for Starship.
Nd Elon said they learned a lot from doing all of the GSE at Starbasew, so it might happen on a much faster timeline than in Boca.
Great Potato showing his disatisfaction for Big E's gunning down the BBB scam.
SpaceX always planned to launch from KSC. Boca Chica is surrounded by a lot of wildlife reserves, which is why the review is taking so long. The launch complex at Boca Chica is also fairly small. The biggest reason Boca Chica is not likely to be a main hub for Starship launches is the Texas state law on restricting access to public beaches. The Texas legislature had to change that law a few years ago to allow SpaceX even the limited closures that they have now. Boca Chica looks to be restricted to 5 orbital launches and 5 sub-orbital launches a year for Starship. So it is apparently going to be an R&D center and almost certainly support the converted oil rigs in international waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Cant wait for SuperHeavy launch! :D
THANKS
The wife and I were at Boca Chica Beach 2 weeks ago and there were a lot of concrete trucks pouring at the launch site area.
Every time “Starship” take a shot. 😃
Is this old facility for sale ?
I seen this all first hand 321 resident worked across the street remember them raising the lines and making the commuter rail tall enough to pass the rocket under
I thought the thumbnail at first glance was Jeff's attempt at Starship 🤣🤣
Ive worked on the heat shield project at this site!
"Ha. Starship. The Model Ts of interplanetary flight." -some guy from 2122
The title is really confusing as spacex is doing work in florida to support launches of starship
Did you not watch the whole video? Because the narrator explains how the Florida site was initially used as kind of a friendly competition with Boca Chica to develop starship and Boca Chica site proved to be more competent in several ways. The site that Space X is now using to build starship is at an old Falcon 9 construction site which is being repurposed for starship. That was all in the video.
@@michaeldeierhoi4096 I guess you didn't read my comment correctly, I said the *title* not the *video*
@@avap0n459 You are right on. I overlooked the title as being misleading. That is all to common on KZhead videos unfortunately. Have a good day.
@@michaeldeierhoi4096 Yea, no worries, happens to everyone
Starship will never succeed.
Hey, look! They are making grain silos!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Rockets… The gullibility! Wake up!
Alternate title: The forgotten Starship Facory, or, The unknown Starship Build-off
And now they're building starship facilities in Florida at the Kennedy space center because of the environmental study taking so long at bocca chicca. Gotta have that backup plan.
I'd always wondered why they never did anything with that site
This is a good person.
I was on that job in cocoa running the crane and he's right. NO ROOM TO WORK. But spacex gets it done one way or the other.
Having an understanding of manufacturing in Florida, I get the move to Texas.
Starship is a pipe dream.
lol get out of the basement and visit Cape or Starbase
Awesome
awesome
Use the boring machines to make a rail tunnel rifling cargo into orbit using hydro power... You can send cargo up every 45 minutes with each orbit of the construction/launch platform...
"One giant leap for mankind, One giant run for the HumanRace!"
SpaceX resumed Starship work in Florida a month ago
I would love to there.!
"Just because I am breathing, doesn't mean that I am living" "Just because I am smiling, doesn't mean that I am happy"
Good video
Can u show the plan of Florida site
SpaceX is building the Starship pad off to the side of the LC-39A pad. Crew Dragon, Falcon Heavy, Falcon 9, and Starship will all apparently launch from LC-39A. SpaceX is working with NASA and the FAA about using the unbuilt LC-49 (north of LC-39B) as another Starship launch location at KSC.
Maybe Miami Beach next. lol
This is actually very funny! Thanks for the fake space laughs lol .
So much land being wasted and destroyed
Honestly I'm skeptical of how much of a competition this actually was. Elon phrased it like each site had an equal chance of competing/winning but I doubt that's the whole story.
I just think it's because Elon musk is particulary greedy and stupid so he just baught a crop of land for cheep in texas, ruined the life of the people living there, spend tonnes of money to built a factory and a space port instead of buy land for a bit more money in the kennedy space center that already has all the facility to built and test the spaceship on site...
Eloy is a master charlatan. Idk why people don't see that. He's a self serving showboat
couldn't agree more
@@michaelkeaton5394 amen to that.
This entire thread is “spaceship man bad” and it gets a good chuckle outta me.
Is Primal Space the Engineer Guy? Their voices are incredibly similar if not.
Sign of a good video is, "Did you learn something?" Ans: Yes I did... Thanks!
I wonder how far musk and space x will get before they realize why nasa ditched manned rocket flights.
Bottom line is that Starship will move entirely to Florida at the new larger facility. This will all take time.
That's just not true? There are allot of benefits to both, but the needs of SpaceX fit well in Texas. The "larger facility" your refering to isin't a thing. The Texas facility is much larger, and has extreme potential for expansion. With time SpaceX will likely expand their focus more on Florida, but as of right now and the next year or two, their main focus will be Texas. Even in 3 or 4 years, Florida's launch capability for starship will be minimal.
I might have somewhat agree with you if you didin't put entirely ^
That’s not true. No matter what Boca Chica is an important strategic location. It’s the most southern point in the US rockets have ever launched from, it’s coastal right next to a massive body of water, and It’s in Texas which is where Elon has a lot of his projects located.
@@someguy6220 Don't count on it taking that long. You might see the first launch to the Moon from Florida and not Texas.
@@lanceanthony198 It is however not the furthest point South that a rocket plant has been located in the US.
The town they picked in Texas literally sounds like a place in Star Wars.
I miss MK2' shine. Its was the only one that gave the look originally imagined. Not they are just grey, but still amazing.
They can still polish them and just might.
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"
A funny scene to be sure, but it has very little to do with building rockets and abandoned buildings.
@@VideoDotGoogleDotCom ARE YOU THE COMMENT POLICE ? YOU NAUGHTY MOOSE !
what a time to be alive for space geeks i love all this when i watched Doctor Who and Star Trek back in the 60's if you had told my 4/5 year old ass that i would see & hear the wind blowing on Mars in my life time i would have probably believed you but only because i am a dreamer lol but really we have seen and listened to the wind on mars we have flown a remote controlled drone on mars we have seen pictures of the surface of Venus truly amazing times
Radiation levels on Mars will force humans underground, only androids will enjoy the surface. hate to burst your bubble,
The difference between Texas and Florida came down to the workforce. The workforce in Florida was used to "Old Space" methods. In Texas, we are used to working in austere conditions, and building high precision, high pressure equipment under high time pressure situations. People dismiss the oil and gas industry as a knuckle dragging, low tech industry. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This industry is leading edge in both manufacturing as well as technology, and Boca Chica was overflowing with former oil and gas industry people who were currently out of work and who were able to quickly switch to rocket building.
They are planning launches in Florida, they are modifying one of the pads their for starship. The difference is the site was clearly not able to be expanded because of the geography. It likely the final ships going to the Moon and Mars will be built a new facility with clean rooms that look much more like conventional rocket construction methods that the current industry uses. I suspect that will eventually see such a factory built in Florida, near to the launch pad, as they will be limited to a handful of launch at their current location.
oil and gas has always been a part of aerospace industry due to Howard R. Hughes Sr. founder of Hughes tool one of the first successful seller rolling cutter drill bits. His son Howard Robard Hughes Jr. used his wealth and industrial power to be a pioner in airplanes and later spun off Hughes Aerospace from the tool division. Hughes Aerospace was a major contractor for NASA and had a lot of firsts for many technolages. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute still does a ton of research that utilizes space and pay for publication of educational space content.
lol. no. it's that cape canaveral is a restricted area so it was waaaaay harder to build there especially when they didn't know what they were building
And that's part of why there is a shortage of oilfield workers throughout the US now. 107 oil companies went bankrupt in 2020 / 2021 causing lots of workers to say, "chuck it".
"People dismiss the oil and gas industry as a knuckle dragging, low tech industry.", the voices in your head aren't people. Take your meds.
One hurricane can wipe out either site so having a backup site is t a bad idea
Yes I imagine these thousands of Starship rockets leaving in droves toward Mars, I guess in a few years from now, right ?
If they wanna send people to Mars, I’m still curious how they plan to deal with the Van Allen radiation belt?
We'll be going to Mars in a few years. I can't wait!
I think you may have missed the issue SpaceX had with some wild life preservation in Texas that would delay the program. A reason why they moved to FL. Florida may have won because some Texas bureaucrats needed to be assured that some fish wasn't harmed. But then I could be wrong.
Completley omitted but not forgotten by the people who care.
"More sophisticated welds" Do you have any idea what makes a weld quality?
quote: tanks are at "insane pressure" fact: tanks are about 6 bar or one fiftieth (2%!) the pressure in scuba tanks.
SpaceX will be using Florida and Texas for Starship with the primary launch site at Kennedy Space Center. I bet this other site will become another build site again.
Had no idea about Cocoa
5:20 bad desing i would build it right there. we would be allready in mars LOL
My understanding is that the new larger starship facility in Florida is because they are abandoning Boca Chica due to environmental issues since the Boca site is surrounded by sensitive nature preserves.
It’s crazy that you know the FAA’s decision before they’ve announced it
SpaceX always planned to have Starship operations in Florida. Apparently, Boca Chica was as much about learning how to build a Starship launch facility as it is testing Starships. As the video mentions, work at Florida and LC-39A was started before work at Boca Chica really took off. SpaceX paused the work at KSC and now that SpaceX apparently knows what they want from a Starship launch facility, they are restarting work there.
Fella where's the truck that space looking thing
Nice
Its a shame SpaceX never asked permission to build a launch complex in Boca Chica. Now we will have to wait an extra 6 months for Florida to be ready to launch.
I wonder why they don't plan to build at boca then launch up to space and then return via Florida after a few trials to be used in actual flights...