'Welcome to Space Beach': SpaceX Lands 6.5 Acre Long Beach Facility
Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.
Elon Musk's Hawthorne-based SpaceX is joining the aerospace hub in Long Beach with a new 6.5 acre facility.
The facility will sit on the port of a former U.S. Navy complex site and open May 1, according to statements from the mayor's office. The sublease was approved Monday. SpaceX did not immediately respond to comment.
The aerospace giant that last week won a $2.9 billion NASA contract to work on sending astronauts to the moon will join a roster of space companies in Long Beach including Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab, Boeing, Relativity Space and SpinLaunch.
We are excited to announce and welcome @SpaceX to Long Beach. SpaceX is moving into 6.5 acres at the Port of Long B… https://t.co/PQH2ArCJAu— Robert Garcia (@Robert Garcia) 1619475030
Long Beach-based aerospace companies comprise about 6,500 jobs, the mayor's office said in the statement.
"We have a booming and growing space and technology economy which is now the largest of any city on the West Coast," Mayor Robert Garcia said in his tweet. "Welcome to Space Beach."
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Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.