Battle of the Billionaires
Two of the world's richest men are launching rockets in Texas. What happens when Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos moves into your neighborhood? I visited Brownsville and Van Horn to find out.
No one could really be prepared for the likes of Elon Musk, who communicates by tweet, has legions of fans and haters alike and is comfortable with both exploding spaceship prototypes and public regulatory spats. Officials in South Texas certainly were not.
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His company, SpaceX, has pursued a rapid test-fail-fix-test strategy in developing the Starship system that could carry humans to Mars, meaning lots of explosions and fireballs.
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SpaceX has provided college internships and boosted the business of local restaurants and food trucks. But it also has created friction, with some locals feeling bullied by the newcomers. They are worried about rising home prices and SpaceX encroaching on the habitat of shorebirds. The road closures, launches and crashes are disruptive.
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It’s an expected dichotomy when a brash billionaire and his legion of engineers pick your backyard to launch rockets.
It almost feels like Blue Origin has always been a neighbor — a quiet, private neighbor until recently, when the world’s richest man announced he was going into space.
The company’s logo, a feather, is painted on the rocket as a symbol. To Blue Origin, the feather represents freedom, perfect flight design and gentle landings.
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But around Van Horn, the feather hints at the various ways a billionaire and his space company have impacted the community.
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Blue Origin has brought money into Van Horn, with its workers eating at local restaurants and buying houses. Some of its employees are becoming involved in the school and local museum.
But new demographics aren't always good. This town, like a thousand other rural communities, has seen agriculture diminish and infrastructure deteriorate. Its local improvements often depend on grants. And with Blue Origin’s higher-paid workforce, the town no longer qualifies for citywide grants reserved for low- to moderate-income communities. Residents talk about about the tight housing market and problem-plagued water system.