Elon Musk has announced he will donate $20 million to schools in Cameron County and $10 million to the city of Brownsville in Texas as he urged top engineers to move to the area to work for SpaceX.
The eccentric Tesla and SpaceX boss tweeted Tuesday his $30 million pledge to help with ‘downtown revitalization’ of Brownsville and South Padre, next to the small hamlet of Boca Chica where the SpaceX launch site Starbase is based.
Musk has had a rocky relationship with locals since he started buying up land in the area back in 2015.
His pledge came just hours after SpaceX suffered its fourth failed test launch as its Starship prototype broke apart in the air.
Elon Musk has announced he will donate $20 million to schools in Cameron County and $10 million to the city of Brownsville in Texas as he urged top engineers to move to the area to work for SpaceX
‘Am donating $20M to Cameron County schools & $10M to City of Brownsville for downtown revitalization. Details to follow next week,’ Musk wrote on social media.
The city of Brownsville expressed its gratitude to the billionaire.
‘On the border, by the sea and BEYOND! Grateful for your support in making #Brownsville a launching pad to Mars,’ it replied on Twitter.
‘We look forward to continuing to work with @elonmusk and @SpaceX!’
Musk made the donation announcement alongside a tweet where he called for talent including engineers and technicians to move to the area to work for SpaceX.
‘Please consider moving to Starbase or greater Brownsville/South Padre area in Texas & encourage friends to do so!’ he tweeted.
‘SpaceX’s hiring needs for engineers, technicians, builders & essential support personnel of all kinds are growing rapidly.’
In a follow-up tweet, he added: ‘Starbase will grow by several thousand people over the next year or two.’
The entrepreneur confirmed he had personally made the move to the lower-tax haven in Texas in December, months after he slammed California officials for forcing him to temporarily shutter its car factory in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The eccentric Tesla and SpaceX boss tweeted Tuesday his $30 million pledge to help with ‘downtown revitalization’ of Brownsville and South Padre, next to the small hamlet of Boca Chica where the SpaceX launch site Starbase is based
Musk made the donation announcement alongside tweets where he called for talent including engineers and technicians to move to the area to work for SpaceX
Musk made the plea for talent to join him in relocating within an hour of SpaceX’s latest disappointing attempt to launch a rocket to Mars.
SpaceX lost its fourth Starship prototype when it launched the rocket from the Boca Chica testing facility Tuesday.
The rocket launched around 9:15am ET, but not quite six minutes into its first high altitude test the livestream froze and dense fog in South Texas obscured views.
SpaceX engineer John Insprucker, who hosted the livestream, then said: ‘Starship 11 is not coming back, don’t wait for the landing.
‘We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle.’
The rocket appeared to break apart with other video showing debris raining down and explosions heard.
Musk’s pledge came just hours after SpaceX suffered its fourth failed test launch as its Starship prototype broke apart in the air. Pictured the rocket taking off before its doomed flight
CEO Elon Musk released a statement on Twitter shortly after the incident
Musk seemed to downplay the disappointment tweeting that: ‘At least the crater is in the right place!’
In a statement on Twitter he then said ‘engine 2 had issues on ascent & didn’t reach operating chamber pressure during landing burn, but, in theory, it wasn’t needed.
‘Something significant happened shortly after landing burn start. Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today.’
This was the fourth rocket launched by SpaceX since December – and also the fourth to explode.
But the expansion of the SpaceX workforce in Texas may not be welcome news to everyone.
Musk began buying up homes and land in the Boca Chica area in 2015 to expand his SpaceX empire and build a test site for the Starship program in a takeover that has repeatedly drawn the ire of the local community.
Musk has had a rocky relationship with locals since he started buying up land in the area back in 2015. Before he moved in, Boca Chica was a quiet hamlet of just 35 houses and was known to be something of an isolated paradise teeming with wildlife
Before Musk moved in, Boca Chica was a quiet hamlet of just 35 houses and a tiny chapel and was known to be something of an isolated paradise teeming with wildlife such as blue buntings and coyotes.
Now, SpaceX has bought up more than half of the homes and turned many of them into workshops, storage sites, and delivery centers.
Last June, residents told DailyMail.com the company was bullying them to leave their homes using threats and aggressive tactics while some likened the noise of rocket launches to living ‘in a war zone’.
SpaceX plans to use its Starship rocket to send astronauts and cargo to the moon and Mars – a step on the way to Musk’s lofty dream of building a city for humans to live on Mars.
Musk vowed earlier this month that SpaceX will be landing Starships on Mars ‘well before 2030.’
