Starbase, near Brownsville, Texas, is SpaceX’s fourth operational launch facility and the only one that is privately owned. Following launch of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle on Nov. 18, SpaceX is looking to step up its flight-test program in 2024, including in-orbit refueling demonstrations.

A day before the second Starship-Super Heavy integrated flight test on Nov. 18, 2023, the vehicle was destacked to replace a grid fin actuator.

A few hours after launch, photographers gathered to retrieve remote cameras they had set up to capture the launch.

Rocket watchers and SpaceX enthusiasts travel State Highway 4 to reach the new mecca of space, Starbase, a privately owned launch site, test facility and manufacturing complex in the southern tip of Texas.

Rapid manufacturing is a key part of the SpaceX blueprint for deep-space travel to the Moon and Mars. SpaceX is adding a second orbital launchpad, a 1-million-ft.² factory, more employee housing and office space.

SpaceX has acquired nearly all the homes in Boca Chica Village, Texas, which not long ago was a quiet beachfront community located where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Among the first people to enter the restricted zone following the Starship-Super Heavy launch on Nov. 18 were officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who were to assess environmental impacts of the launch.

With twice the lift capacity of a Saturn V or a Space Launch System rocket, a SpaceX Super Heavy successfully conducted a full-duration engine burn during the Integrated Flight Test 2 on Nov. 18 before the booster was destroyed as it prepared for reentry. Minutes later, the free-flying Starship upper stage met a similar fate.