When Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave his latest State of the State speech before the Texas Legislature on Jan. 29. 2013, he touted a number of businesses as part of the relative economic strength of the Lone Star State. Among those businesses are those which are trying to open the high frontier of space.
“And just last June, Texas took another giant leap into commercial space, as XCOR Aerospace, a leader in the privatized space race, brought its research and development center to Midland.
“They're part of a growing Texas presence in this important market, which includes businesses like SpaceX and Blue Origin.”
Perry has been quite adroit in attracting commercial enterprises from other, less business friendly states. SpaceX and Blue Origin already have testing facilities in Texas. Recently, XCOR has announced the establishment of a research facility, as Perry referenced, in Midland, which will now have a space port.
The big prize, though, would be won if SpaceX decided to build a launch facility near Brownsville. Last year Perry personally lobbied SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to build his space port in Texas. The proposal is still pending, awaiting an environmental impact statement, but if it comes through Perry will have yet another occasion for good, old fashioned Texas-style bragging.
Comments