Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez: We welcome the trillion-dollar New Space industry
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez spoke about SpaceX and New Space in his recent virtual State of the City address.
\u201c2021 will be an exciting year for Brownsville and a year that we will begin to see the fruits of our labor. SpaceX has ramped up operations and the impact is very visible. So visible that we now have the attention of the world focused on Boca Chica," Mendez said.
"On Tuesday, March 30th, SpaceX launched its fourth high-altitude test of Starship from Brownsville. We understand that SpaceX continues to have expansion plans at the launch site and we look forward to working with them.\u201d
Mendez said the City of Brownsville is actively building a New Space ecosystem in Brownsville to attract more space-releasee companies.\xa0
\u201cNew Space is projected to be a trillion-dollar industry by 2030 and Brownsville will position itself as a city that welcomes this industry and fosters innovation,\u201d he said.
Mendez said the arrival of Space Ventures in Brownsville is an \u201cearly win\u201d in this effort. He said the company continues to expand its footprint in the city.\xa0
\u201cSpace Ventures is a technology platform where new space companies can raise up to $5 million for their startup operations. They have hundreds of companies interested in the platform and we anticipate being able to bring some of those to Brownsville,\u201d Mendez said.
\u201cIf they start here that means they grow here and they are more likely to stay here for the longterm, bringing further capital, development, and workforce to our city. We look forward to our partnership with Space Ventures.\u201d
Mendez also made news in his State of the City address by announcing the arrival of the Space Channel.
\u201cContinuing the space front, I am excited to announce the City of Brownsville has entered into an economic development agreement with a space channel. Space Channel is the world\u2019s only media channel dedicated to space news and entertainment. Space Channel has agreed to build its broadcasting studios in Brownsville, hire Brownsville talent and broadcast Brownsville to the world. We are excited about the decision to make Brownsville their home base,\u201d Mendez said.
Mendez noted that on March 30 a tweet from Elon Musk \u201ccaught worldwide attention.\u201d Mendez explained:
\u201cElon Musk tweeted that he was donating $20 million to Cameron County schools and $10 million to the City of Brownsville for downtown revitalization. More and more companies have shown interest in our city and we believe that the interest will continue to rise as more companies see the value of Brownsville.\u201d\xa0
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