BROWNSVILLE, Texas – SpaceX will soon bring another 300 engineers and technicians to its Starbase facility in Boca Chica.
This news was announced by Kathryn Lueders, General Manager of Starbase, at a luncheon hosted by the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce. Lueders was the keynote speaker for a program titled “Bridging Borders & Beyond – The Impact of US-Mexico Relations and Space Exploration in the Rio Grande Valley.” The program was held at the Brownsville Events Center.
Lueders said: “So we are investing. We believe that Starbase and the Rio Grande Valley are the right place to run the Starship program, and so of course we are investing in the people here to make this mission happen.”
During her PowerPoint presentation, Lueders said she particularly liked one slide. It showed a group photo of 100 workers at Starbase. According to Wikipedia, by the end of 2023, over 2,100 full-time employees worked at the site.
“Next slide. I like to show this image because it really… we tend to show images of rockets, launch pads and buildings, but it’s really about the people. None of this would be possible without the people, and when you see the people there and the numbers that we have… we’re about to start another round of surges because we’re bringing another 300 engineers and technicians to the Rio Grande Valley to help us increase our cadence for the missions that are coming up,” Lueders said.
“All of this means that we need even more capacity at Starbase to be able to care for these people. That’s why we’re building more houses, investing in schools in the different areas and thinking about how we can continue to attract talent here and attract as many people to this area as possible. Because we want the best and brightest minds to work at Starbase.”
Editor’s Note: Here is an audio recording of Kathryn Lueders’ Powerpoint presentation at the Bridging Borders & Beyond event:
