Elon Musk Explains Why SpaceX' Starbase Orbital Launch Facility Is Located In Texas

Elon Musk delved into why Texas was chosen as the location for its SpaceX Starbase facility in a yet-to-be aired CNBC interview.

"We needed a place out of the way. It’s a giant rocket, it sometimes explodes and so it needed to be a remote location," the billionaire said, according to snippets of the interview shared by television host Jay Leno on Twitter.

The site also needed to be on the ocean/sea, southward facing east, he added.

“When you launch eastward, you take advantage of the Earth’s rotation to get to the orbit,” Musk.

That way, even if something goes wrong, rock debris won’t land on people, he said.

Why Texas? @elonmusk explains the location of SpaceX in this Jay Leno's Garage exclusive! pic.twitter.com/o1x0yrPqBM

— Jay Leno's Garage (@LenosGarage) September 16, 2022

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The SpaceX commercial launch site meant for orbital missions, called Starbase, is in Boca Chica, Texas. It's the location where engineers build and develop Starship vehicles.

Musk was taking Leno on a tour around the SpaceX Starbase facility. The interview will air on Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET. Ahead of the episode, Leno will host a live YouTube show to discuss the interview with Musk.

Photo courtesy Steve Jurvetson on flickr