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How Bezos Messed With Texas
theodp writes "The WSJ has the behind-the-spaceport story on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Texas land grab for his Blue Origin space tourism venture. Bezos deputized an attorney (who once handled Amazon SEC filings) to make ranchers offers they couldn't refuse (and can't talk about), acquiring property through corporate entities with monikers including 'James Cook L.P.,' 'Jolliet Holdings,' 'Coronado Ventures,' and 'Cabot Enterprises' — all named for famous explorers and all using the same address, c/o [Star Trek-monikered] Zefram LLC. BTW, FAA temporary flight restrictions are in effect for Blue Origin until Monday ('DUE TO ROCKET LAUNCH ACTIVITY'). Let's hope it's more successful than Blue Origin's maiden flight."
If you RTFA you will see that he is paying ~$250/ acre. It is above market value but it is not really that much money for someone that rich. In fact he probably found the $7.5 M that he paid one rancher inside the cushions of his couch. If I am reading the FA correctly, he has purchased 5 to 10 ranches - each of about 30 to 60 k Acres - about 300 k acres in total. This is about $ 75 M. For someone with $4.3 B this is close to chump change. He probably earns more then that from Amazon (including options and stock value) each year. Remember Amazon is only about 10 years old - so he has averaged ~$400 M each year.
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So he bought what? Half a county? Unless he's buying up land out east, where there are some darn small counties, e.g. Rockwall County, the average county has an area between nine hundred and a thousand square miles. If you factor in the counties in the Big Bend, 1000 is somewhat under the average.
!FDC 6/6007 ZAB TX.. TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTION, VAN HORN TX. 1330-2000 DLY EFFECTIVE 0611121330 UTC UNTIL 0611132000 UTC. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.143 FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT DUE TO ROCKET LAUNCH ACTIVITY WITHIN A 5 NAUTICAL MILE RADIUS OF 312515N/1044515W OR THE SALT FLAT /SFL/ VORTAC 127 DEGREE RADIAL AT 25.9 NAUTICAL MILES SFC TO 10000 FT MSL. BLUE ORGIN COMPANY, TELEPHONE 253-437-9367, IS IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION. ALBUQUERQUE ARTCC /ZAB/, TELEPHONE 505-856-4500, IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY.
No kidding.
I went on a long drive the last couple of weeks. The Eastward trip included those three states, and for the Westward part I went through Nebraska and Colorado instead. It's amazing how much difference it made in the temperature. Wyoming had snow and ice all over, and all three were bone-chillingly cold at night and/or if there was a lot of wind, which there usually was. And that was late fall, not winter.
Texas is also closer to the water, in case they need to ditch a rocket in the ocean. Historically, it's also had more space-related activities going on, and giving a nod to history seems pretty important to this company.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
RTFA.
This is a VTO/VL test. The first few DC-X flights were similar.
-- Alastair