SpaceX plots LA expansion plan
March 21, 2018
By Chris Forrester
Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX is reportedly looking for extra factory space in the port of Los Angeles.
Bloomberg reports that Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) is in early discussions to lease extra land in the port area. It already occupies 8.1 acres of dockside and warehousing from the port authority.
While SpaceX has confirmed that negotiations are preliminary there has been no detail from SpaceX as to how the extra space might be used. However, there is speculation that SpaceX could use new space for a factory to assemble its ‘next generation’ BFR launch rocket.
SpaceX has its current rocket manufacturing facility in Hawthorne, a suburb of Los Angeles, and situated just a few kilometres from Boeing’s El Segundo factory and LAX airport. Hawthorne is some 15 kilometres North of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles. A new factory would be near-adjacent to the ocean making shipping of any rocket easier.