Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) on Monday downplayed rumors Texas could sell a public beach to SpaceX, after the company’s use of the area for rocket launches spurred controversy.
Elon Musk’s company occasionally uses Boca Chica State Park for rocket testing and launches, which means the public area at times has to be shut down, stirring backlash from some locals. Texas Monthly reported last week that the state’s Parks and Wildlife Department would discuss selling the beachfront state park to Musk at its meeting next month, stirring further debate.
When pressed on the matter this week, Abbott sought to deflect speculation, saying he did not know what the Parks and Wildlife Department was considering, and emphasizing his record on expanding public access to land. Abbott’s move comes as the commission has denied it will bring the matter up in November, and as state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who is challenging him in the governor’s race, filed a lawsuit seeking to access emails between Abbott and Musk, partly over criticisms about the Boca Chica beach sale rumors.
“What I know is that that’s not coming up for a vote anytime soon,” Abbott said, adding that he is focused on seeking “to continue to preserve our parkland in the state of Texas.”
“No state in America has been adding more parkland than what I’ve done and what Texas has done,” the governor said. “I’ve been at multiple locations across the state where we are adding new parks to the entire parks and wildlife system.”
Parks and Wildlife said that the commission will not consider the sale of the Boca Chica property at its November meeting.
Abbott’s move not to endorse a possible sale comes after he has long framed himself as a governor “passionate about expanding public access to land.” Earlier this year, his office touted the opening of the first state park to open in Texas in 18 years. Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is the first to open in North Texas in more than 24 years.
However, Hinojosa has sought to target Abbott over the Boca Chica rumors, seeking to use them to fuel her campaign to oust him from the governor’s mansion. In an op-ed for the Rio Grande Guardian on Tuesday, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee detailed her lawsuit against Abbott aimed at revealing his relationship with Musk and slammed the report that Texas might sell the beach to SpaceX.
“We just saw … a story wherein a draft agenda for two days after the election by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, all appointed by Greg Abbott, were set to sell Boca Chica State Park, Boca Chica Beach, to Elon Musk,” she complained. “There is nothing that Greg Abbott won’t sell out, and he has sold out Texans. People are angry. That’s what this election is about. It is one fight. Is this going to be a Texas that is by and for the people, or is this the billionaires’ world and we just live here?”
NASA is heavily reliant on SpaceX to reach the United States’s goal of returning to the moon by 2028, as well as other space exploration aspirations, such as going to Mars.
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Boca Chica Beach has emerged as a critical part of SpaceX’s operations. For example, the area is where SpaceX launched Starship Flight 14 last month, marking the first time in history that the world’s first fully and rapidly reusable rocket reached orbit.
SpaceX has been testing rocket launches from the Boca Chica Beach since 2014, necessitating brief closures of the location each time. The area stretches for roughly 3.5 miles in South Texas and is adjacent to SpaceX’s Starbase, which was created last year as a community for company employees.