Starbase is where Starship launches from. It is a city on the southern tip of Texas, in Cameron County, close to the Mexico border. The City of Starbase calls itself "the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley". The FAA, which licenses the launches, calls the launch site the Boca Chica Launch Site. All 14 Starship flights so far have taken off from there, the latest on 28 September 2026.
What is at the Starbase launch site?
The FAA describes the site as two parts. The vertical launch area is where the rockets stand and lift off. The launch and landing control center is a two-storey building called Stargate, west of the launch area along State Highway 4, next to the SpaceX manufacturing and production area. The launch area is about 2.2 miles north of the U.S. and Mexico border. The control center is about 1.3 miles north of it. All of this is from the FAA's operations page.
The launch area sits right at the east end of State Highway 4. The FAA says that road is the only access to the public Boca Chica Beach. The site is in a sparsely populated coastal area beside the Gulf of America, with public land that belongs to Texas Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
On its launches page SpaceX says Starship is developed, built, tested and launched at Starbase, which it calls "one of the world's first commercial spaceports designed for orbital missions". It lists Flight 14 as launching from "Pad 2, Starbase". Our history of the flights says the launch tower has caught the Super Heavy booster three times, and that Flight 12 in May 2026 was the first launch from Pad 2. See Every Starship flight so far.
How did Boca Chica become a Starship site?
In 2014 the FAA published its environmental review and decision for a SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The FAA's history page says SpaceX no longer plans Falcon launches there and instead uses the site for Starship and Super Heavy tests and orbital launches.
How many launches does the FAA allow?
Before that, under the FAA's 2022 review, SpaceX could launch Starship on Super Heavy up to five times a year from Boca Chica. In May 2025 the FAA published its final environmental assessment for up to 25 launches a year, with up to three of them at night.
A bigger proposal is now under review. In its project notice, the FAA says it will prepare an environmental impact statement for up to 100 launches a year in a first phase and up to 456 in a second phase. Second-phase launches would only happen Monday to Friday. The FAA's public meetings are on 17 November (Brownsville), 18 November (online) and 19 November 2026 (Port Isabel), and comments close on 30 November 2026. Nothing in that proposal is approved yet.
When are the beach and road closed?
For launches and other spaceflight activity, the City of Starbase closes Boca Chica Beach and State Highway 4 by mayor's order. Its beach and road access page lists each order. Mayor's Order No. 2026-24 closed both on 25 October 2026 from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time. It named 26 October as a back-up day, then cancelled that day, and the beach stayed open.
You can text BEACH to 1-866-513-3475 for beach updates. During closures the city points people to Cameron County Beach Access Nos. 3, 4, 4 (West) and 5 (West) on South Padre Island.
Where can I watch a launch?
Not from the launch site. Most people watch from across the water. Our guides cover it: How to watch a Starship launch and the best places to watch.
When is the next Starship launch?
There is no official date yet for Flight 15. See When is Starship Flight 15? and the next Starship launch tracker, which shows Starbase time and your own time.
