I've been curious about SpaceX since they muscled into Boca Chica at the southern tip of Texas to build rocket launch facilities. In the two years since they began launching Starship rockets there, I've followed the news from Austin about environmental concerns and noise complaints.
While I'm not a fan of the company's most famous co-founder, I can't help but admire the ingenuity of engineers and the collective ambition to return humans to the Moon and send them to Mars.
My fascination with space travel increased during the pandemic, when I read that seeking out awe-inspiring experiences is good for our mental health.
And the statistics about Starship, SpaceX's next-generation, fully reusable rocket, are truly awe-inspiring. When paired with its Super Heavy booster, Starship stands 403 feet tall (the height of a 40-story building).
It generates a staggering 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making it the most powerful rocket ever built. Starship surpasses NASA's Saturn V (7.6 million pounds) and the Space Launch System (8.8 million pounds). The upper stage is expected to carry more than 100 metric tons of cargo to low Earth orbit.
In 2021, I traveled to the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral and stood under the Saturn V rocket's immense engines. I saw the smaller (reusable) SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster at Space Center Houston a few years later.
Most recently, during a vacation to South Padre Island, I drove through Starbase and SpaceX's launch facilities to Boca Chica Beach.
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Where Is Boca Chica?
Boca Chica is a remote coastal area in Cameron County, Texas, about 25 miles east of Brownsville. You must drive through Port Isabel and Brownsville to reach SpaceX's Starbase and Boca Chica Beach from South Padre Island.
Take Highway 48 west to Brownsville, then turn east onto Highway 4 (Boca Chica Boulevard). Follow Highway 4 for approximately 20 miles until it ends at the Gulf of Mexico.
You'll pass the SpaceX facilities, including the launch complex and production sites. The drive along the Texas Gulf Coast takes about an hour.
What Is SpaceX's Starbase?
Starbase serves as the primary site for the development, manufacturing, testing, and launch of the Starship rocket system. Starbase is central to SpaceX's mission of enabling human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
The facility features advanced infrastructure, including the world's tallest launch and catch tower, standing approximately 480 feet tall, designed to support the rapid reuse of the Super Heavy booster.
The area was officially incorporated as the city of Starbase in May 2025. According to a story in The Texas Tribune, this could make Boca Chica Beach less accessible to the public.
Given SpaceX's growing footprint in the area and increasing launch cadence, it may become harder to drive by all the facilities, as I'm showing you here. It's another reason I made it a priority to visit while in the region.
The Drive on Highway 4
Starbase
Approximately 15 miles east of Brownsville, you'll encounter a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. This surprised me, although I knew we were only a few miles from Mexico. I showed my Texas driver's license, and we were good. If you're an international traveler, bring your passport.
Continuing east, the landscape becomes more remote and the road more rutted. I imagine it wasn't in the best shape before SpaceX moved in, and all the heavy vehicles since then have only worn it down further. Starbase is about 13 miles east of the checkpoint.
At the intersection of Remedios Avenue and Boca Chica Boulevard, I pulled our rental car over to the right side of the road. Looking north up Remedios Avenue, I saw the Rocket Garden. While the road to Boca Chica Beach is open to the public, Starbase is private property.
They're used to curious visitors at this point, but it's still best to keep your distance. SpaceX currently has no public visitor center at Starbase. I imagine they'll build one eventually and perhaps offer tours.
Please be careful getting in and out of your car to take pictures. There's not much room on the shoulder, and plenty of big trucks and traffic.
Starfactory
As I pulled away to continue driving east, I tried to go slow as we passed Mega Bay 1 (MB1) and Mega Bay 2 (MB2).
The first bay houses the Super Heavy booster assembly, including the Raptor engines. The Super Heavy booster is powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, designed for high thrust and reusability. The second bay is used for the upper stage assembly (the part that goes into orbit and carries a payload).
I couldn't see anything in either, but that's partly because MB1 faces east, so it's hard to see driving toward the beach. MB2 faces south toward the road, so you can see directly into it if the doors are open.
SpaceX began construction on an even larger Giga Bay in 2025. Their audacious goal is to produce 1,000 Starships annually for missions to Mars.
Past the bays is an immense Starbase Production Site, still under construction, and a $100 million office building. Drive east past the offices, and you enter Boca Chica State Park.
Launch Facilities
Continuing east toward Boca Chica Beach, two of the world's tallest rocket launch towers appeared. Photos do not do them justice. Their scale is immense. It's hard to believe that we tiny humans can construct such steel towers, and then load 400-foot-tall rockets on them!
The first tower you see and pass is Orbital Launch Pad B, which has been under construction since 2024. Orbital Launch Pad A is currently used for launches and is closer to the beach.
As we approached the entrance to the launch pad facilities, with a giant SpaceX sign above it, I pulled the car over again to the side of the road. We had more space this time, and other vehicles were parked in the dirt lot.
After taking a photo of the entrance, I turned my attention to the shiny silver object on the north side of the road. Starhopper was a low-altitude test flight prototype for Starship that operated in 2019 with a single Raptor engine.
After some photos from behind a concrete barrier, we drove past the rest of the launch facilities, and the asphalt turned to sand. I pulled the car over next to a dune, and we walked a short distance to the beach.
Boca Chica Beach
I remained in awe at the spectacularly tall structures, even though rockets were not on the pads. We arrived in South Texas a day after a Starship launch and drove to Boca Chica a few days later.
You'd never know humankind's most powerful rocket had recently taken off. It was peaceful, especially on the beach, where gentle waves lapped against the sand.
This remote stretch of shoreline is part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Bird enthusiasts can observe species such as the endangered piping plover, red knots, and roseate spoonbill.
The beach also serves as a nesting ground for the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, which lays eggs in spring and summer. Additionally, the area supports unique species like the Boca Chica flea bee, which is found exclusively in this region's dune systems.
Tips for Visiting
The best time to visit SpaceX's Starbase and Boca Chica Beach is during weekdays, as weekends and holidays often see increased activity and potential closures. We stopped early on a Friday afternoon after getting barbacoa tacos at Vera's in Brownsville for lunch.
Given the dynamic nature of rocket testing and launches, checking the latest schedules is crucial before planning your trip. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, consult SpaceX's official launch schedule.
Final Thoughts
Visiting SpaceX's Starbase in Boca Chica was surreal—equal parts beach day and brush with a sci-fi-worthy future. Despite my skepticism of the company's leadership, I left with a deeper appreciation for the engineering ambition behind Starship.
Seeing those towering structures up close filled me with awe. For a moment, the noise of controversy faded, and all I could think about was how wild it is that we're building rockets on a Texas beach and aiming them at the Moon and Mars.
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