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SpaceX expansion October 28, 2026 · Cameron County · Land

A county deed shows SpaceX bought about 79 acres in a 3-mile strip from the ship channel to the Rio Grande

Aerial map east of Brownsville. A thin light blue strip runs from the ship channel at the top, across Highway 4, down to the Rio Grande. Labels mark 37.66 acres north of Highway 4 and 41.35 acres south of it
Map: the two tracts in the deed. Strip plotted by Gateway to Mars from the deed's survey calls, approximate. Aerial: USDA NAIP via USGS, June 2022 (public domain).

A deed recorded with the Cameron County Clerk on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 shows SpaceX bought about 79 acres east of Brownsville in one long, narrow strip. It runs about 3.1 miles from the ship channel south across Highway 4 (Boca Chica Boulevard) to the Rio Grande.

  • The deed: a special warranty deed signed Oct. 15 and recorded Oct. 22, 2026 (document 2026-38676). It gives Space Exploration Technologies Corp. "Approximately 79.01 acres" in Share 5, Lot 3. The seller is a private individual.
  • Two tracts: Tract I, 37.66 acres, runs north from Highway 4 to the ship channel. Tract II, 41.35 acres, runs south from Highway 4 to the Rio Grande. The strip is about 214 to 224 feet wide.
  • Where it is: by our plot of the deed's survey calls, the strip crosses Highway 4 about 10.5 miles west of the launch site.
  • No price: the deed lists only $10 "and other good and valuable consideration."

What it is for: SpaceX hasn't said, and the deed doesn't say.

Background: County deeds recorded in September show SpaceX bought the surface of about 1,500 acres near the Port. Our Oct. 16 story.

Next: we read the county's new deeds every day and will post any more SpaceX land as it is recorded.

Around the world

Blue Origin's New Glenn launch tower at Launch Complex 36 in Florida is standing again. "Module 9 done. Standing tall again at LC-36! The Vehicle Access Tower is fully assembled, with every module repaired and back in place," Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp posted Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.

The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft has seen the asteroid Didymos and its small companion Dimorphos as two separate objects for the first time, from 1,280 km (about 795 miles) away, ESA said Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. Dimorphos is the asteroid NASA's DART spacecraft hit in a 2022 planetary defense test, and ESA plans to show the first detailed images of it on Nov. 25, 2026.

Sources: Cameron County Clerk, document 2026-38676 (Special Warranty Deed, about 79.01 acres) · Aerial: USDA NAIP via USGS The National Map (public domain); strip plotted by Gateway to Mars from the deed's survey calls · Dave Limp, Blue Origin CEO, on X, Oct. 24, 2026 · ESA, "First light: Hera resolves two asteroids instead of one," Oct. 27, 2026

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