SpaceX Breaks Silence on $24 Billion Texas Data Center and Park Deal

SpaceX has confirmed a $24 billion data center complex near the Port of Brownsville, Texas — its largest disclosed South Texas investment to date — even as it pursues a contested deal to take 1,300 acres of state park land surrounding its launch site.

The two stories broke in the same week, and both were unusual. SpaceX rarely shares project details or answers press questions. On Thursday the company issued a news release laying out the data center plan, while the neighboring city of Starbase spoke publicly about the potential park purchase for the first time.

The facility pairs a gas-fired power plant with a super-compute installation — a specialized data center — to train intelligence systems for medical research, emergency response, advanced manufacturing and national security, SpaceX said. It will also develop and test technologies for space-based computing.

Construction has already begun. The company says the project has created more than 3,000 construction jobs and will add more than 500 permanent jobs once operational — roughly the workforce of a mid-sized manufacturing plant, spread across a single coastal site.

What is happening to Boca Chica State Park?

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had been in talks to relinquish control of 1,300 acres in Cameron County, according to a draft agenda for a Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting scheduled for early November. The draft used the word "disposition," which can mean a sale, trade, transfer or other surrender of ownership.

The land is believed to be Boca Chica State Park, one of the largest tracts the agency owns in the county, per county appraisal district records. But the finalized agenda dropped the item, and it is unclear whether the commission will revisit the transaction.

Starbase City Administrator Cayetana Polanco moved to contain the backlash. "First, to be absolutely clear, nobody is buying or selling Boca Chica Beach," Polanco said in a statement. She said the proposed transaction concerns land around SpaceX's launch facility, not the beach itself, and noted the city of Starbase is not a party to the deal.

What remains unsaid is considerable. Texas Parks and Wildlife has declined interviews and is trying to block public release of the draft agenda. SpaceX did not respond to questions about the sale. The only named party confirming any detail is a city administrator whose municipality is largely populated by SpaceX employees — two of its three city commissioners work for the company.

Who is pushing back?

Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, who defeated Governor Greg Abbott in November's election, criticized the potential sale and said she asked the Texas Parks and Wildlife executive director that "no action be taken" during her transition. Agency spokesperson Justin Minsker declined an interview but said the agency looked forward to working with her and all elected officials.

Hinojosa has also promised broader restrictions. During the campaign she said she would ban all data center approvals until lawmakers pass laws "to protect Texans." Abbott had already ordered a pause on new data center connections to the electric grid — a constraint SpaceX says it will sidestep by generating its own electricity rather than drawing from the Texas public grid.

What does SpaceX get from Starbase?

The company confirmed the project after Starbase posted notice of a December public hearing on a potential tax abatement agreement. SpaceX is also seeking a tax break from the county; those details have not been made public.

Locals suspected the data center after SpaceX asked Brownsville to de-annex the land — weeks before commissioners adopted a temporary data center moratorium last week. In exchange for de-annexation, SpaceX agreed to fund $220 million for Brownsville water and wastewater projects, roughly the cost of a mid-sized municipal infrastructure program.

Launch activity is set to scale alongside it. SpaceX proposes raising rocket launches and landings at Starbase from 25 per year to 100, and eventually to 456 — an eighteenfold increase at full ramp. The Federal Aviation Administration is evaluating the request.

Polanco defended the city's record, citing beach restorations, weekly cleanups, Fourth of July events and sea turtle conservation, plus an erosion rehabilitation initiative with the Texas General Land Office. "Nobody has done more to restore the beach than the people of Starbase," she said, adding that the city would welcome Hinojosa for a visit.

The takeaway: SpaceX is betting $24 billion and a fourfold launch increase on South Texas, while the fate of 1,300 acres of public parkland rests with a state agency that will not yet release its own agenda.