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SpaceX To Shift Starship Work From California To Texas
SpaceX is reportedly shifting its work on prototypes of its next-gen "Starship" launch vehicle from Los Angeles to Texas. The news comes less than a week after the aerospace company announced its plans to lay off 10% of its 6,000-person workforce to tackle its more ambitious projects. An anonymous reader shares the report from Space.com: In a statement, SpaceX said it was now planning to build prototypes of its Starship vehicle, the upper stage of its next-generation reusable launch system, at its site in South Texas originally designed to serve as a launch site. An initial prototype version of that vehicle has been taking shape in recent weeks at the site in advance of 'hopper' tests that could begin in the next one to two months. A shift to South Texas, industry sources said, could be a way to reduce expenses, given the lower cost of living there versus the Los Angeles area. However, that region of Texas has a much smaller workforce, particularly in aerospace, compared to Southern California.
In the real world, new companies keep starting or expanding in the state. Facebook has expanded in Menlo Park. Google is buying all the available properties in downtown San Jose for redevelopment. Los Angeles has had a construction boom for the last 10 years that has not slowed down. California still has a positive migration from other states. It is mostly the poor and lower middle classes that are leaving the state.