SpaceX said Thursday that it is advancing two supercomputing campuses, one at Starbase in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and one in Cochise County, Arizona, that “represent more than $74 billion in planned American investment.” The company statement, dated Nov. 12, said the Texas project would be “more than $24 billion” in new supercomputing infrastructure and that the Arizona campus would be “roughly $50 billion.” Reuters also reported the announcement.
In Texas, SpaceX said it plans a major new facility on company-owned property near the Port of Brownsville. It said the site will generate its own electricity rather than draw power from the public grid, and that the project has already generated more than 3,000 construction jobs and is expected to support more than 500 permanent jobs once it is operating. The company said it has committed $220 million to expand water and wastewater infrastructure for Brownsville and Cameron County, including $40 million already provided to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, to help add 20 million gallons a day of capacity. A later passage in the same SpaceX post describes the Texas investment as “up to $24 billion,” which sits beside the earlier “more than $24 billion” wording and the combined “more than $74 billion” figure.
Reuters, citing a city notice, reported plans for a gas-fired power plant and a supercomputing facility on about 444 acres. SpaceX said about 444 acres of undeveloped land near the port and the city landfill were disannexed to the City of Starbase as part of a water infrastructure agreement. Reuters also reported that the Starbase City Commission is due to consider a property tax abatement on Dec. 9.
In Arizona, SpaceX said it is “seeking to build” the Cochise County campus, which it said could bring about 5,500 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs. It said it is working with local electric cooperatives, that the project could reduce bills for cooperative members by up to 20%, and that the campus would use dry cooling with no planned industrial groundwater use or new wells. Reuters reported that the Arizona project needs approval from Cochise County, that a petition with 2,400 signatures has asked officials to deny the permit, and that a county public hearing is set for December.