Welcome to Starbase, the Texas launch site for Elon Musk’s SpaceX

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Brand new rocket facilities near a sleepy beachside city historically unfamiliar with all things space. Hundreds of workers rushing around production sites to meet the latest deadlines. The sounds of heavy machinery, chatter through hip-mounted radios, and trucks slowly navigating potholed roads reminiscent of the lunar surface.

And, on launch days, even the occasional explosion that scatters a test vehicle into countless pieces.

To some, all this might sound familiar, like a flashback to Florida’s Space Coast in the 1960s when thousands descended on cities like Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral to make the Apollo program a reality. But this isn’t Florida.

Welcome to Starbase, Texas.

There’s a camaraderie and sense of mission here – and a casualness – that resembles what life on the Space Coast was like nearly 60 years ago. One test at a time, the impossible is being made into the possible, and the workforce is growing. But it’s not just the fortunes of directly employed workers and the community that are being changed – almost anyone can drive up to flight-ready hardware and experience the thrill for themselves.