SpaceX launch pad transforms tiny Texas town: “Where the hell do I go now?”

Musk’s company picked the spot to develop, test, and maybe someday launch its new spaceship, called “Starship.” Starship is designed to fly cargo and crew to the moon and even Mars.

Maria Pointer thought the town, with only a couple dozen residents and one main street, would be perfect for retirement. Then SpaceX moved in, something that, during launches, has Pointer excited.

“When you’re juicing your oranges and you’re looking out at a spaceship,” Pointer said. “I would be talking to my mom going, ‘Can you believe this?'”

The launch pad is about a mile and a half down the road, but test days are the real game-changer in the town. Beaches close. The town’s main access road closes. And deputies hand out warnings to residents.

“There is risk that a malfunction will create an over-pressure event that can break windows,” the notices read.

Pointer boarded up her house. She said it’s a love/hate relationship with SpaceX.

“Flip of the coin,” Pointer said. “Heads is… look what we’ve got coming for the future. And then on the back side, it’s like, where the hell do I go now? I mean, I can’t stay here forever.”

No question the neighborhood has changed. Homeowner Cheryl Stevens said she feels like the company has encroached on the town.

“They’re behaving as if this is Cape Canaveral. And it’s not,” Stevens said. “It’s not a military base. It’s just a regular neighborhood, and a public beach, and a state highway. And suddenly, because they’re here, stop the presses. Everything has to change for SpaceX.”

Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. is the top elected official in Cameron County, one of the poorest in Texas. SpaceX could bring in hundreds of new jobs and tens of millions of dollars.

“I can certainly appreciate their frustrations, but I gotta look at the big picture,” Trevino said. “I think that’s a big, big win, potential win for us. I feel bad for those people, but hopefully they’ll understand and appreciate at the end of the day this was beneficial for the entire area.”

Pointer is thrilled by the launches, but when she thinks about the future of space here, she worries about her own.

“It’s bittersweet,” Pointer said, lamenting that she’ll eventually have to leave what was supposed to be her forever home.

“When do I have to move?” Pointer said, when asked what she would say to Musk. “That’s what I would ask him, ‘When do I have to move?'”

In the last few days, Pointer and several other homeowners have received letters from SpaceX offering to buy their homes at three times a fair market value. SpaceX says the offer is non-negotiable and expires in two weeks. Sellers would get to come back for VIP launch viewing.

Musk says he’ll visit Boca Chica next weekend to outline his company’s future there.