“Where is SpaceX actually based?” has become a more complicated question than it used to be. For most of the company’s history, the answer was simple: Hawthorne, California. But a 2024 announcement to relocate headquarters to Texas – and the 2025 incorporation of Starbase as an actual city – means the honest answer in 2026 involves both places. Here’s what’s where, and what each facility actually does.
Hawthorne, California: The Original Headquarters
SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility, at 1 Rocket Road in the Los Angeles metro area, has been the company’s primary hub since its early years. It’s a vertically integrated campus where rockets and spacecraft components are designed, engineered, and manufactured – and it houses one of the company’s primary mission control centers, from which launches and missions are monitored. Hawthorne achieved a major milestone in 2008 as the site associated with the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit, and has remained central to Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy production.
Starbase, Texas: The New Center of Gravity
Starbase – SpaceX’s facility near Boca Chica Beach, outside Brownsville, Texas – has grown from a remote launch site into what’s now an officially incorporated Texas city (as of 2025). It’s the primary hub for Starship development, testing, and launches, and includes a large manufacturing facility known as Starfactory.
In 2024, Elon Musk announced plans to relocate SpaceX’s corporate headquarters from Hawthorne to Starbase – a move he tied to disagreements with California state policy at the time. As of 2026, sources describe the situation somewhat differently depending on when they were written: some describe Starbase as now the official headquarters, while others note that Hawthorne continues to house substantial corporate operations even as Texas’s role grows. The most accurate summary as of mid-2026 is that SpaceX’s center of gravity has shifted significantly toward Texas, with Starbase serving as headquarters in an increasingly formal sense, while Hawthorne remains operationally significant for production and mission control regardless of where the official corporate address points.
McGregor, Texas: Engine Testing
SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas facility (also at a “1 Rocket Road” address, distinct from the Hawthorne one) is a rocket engine development and testing site. This is where SpaceX performs extensive engine testing – the kind of work that involves static-firing rocket engines on test stands – before engines are integrated into rockets for flight.
Other Major US Locations
| Location | What’s There |
| Cape Canaveral, FL | Launch operations on Florida’s Space Coast, supporting eastward launches over the Atlantic, including missions to the ISS |
| Redmond, WA (near Woodinville) | Starlink satellite design, manufacturing, and development – SpaceX’s Pacific Northwest satellite operations |
| Washington, D.C. | Government affairs and regulatory office, reflecting SpaceX’s extensive government and defense contract work |
| Chantilly, VA | Additional office location supporting government-facing operations near the DC area |
| Lompoc, CA | Supports launch operations at Vandenberg Space Force Base on California’s central coast |
| Bastrop, TX | Part of SpaceX’s growing Texas footprint, in the Austin area |
| Irvine, CA | Additional California office location |
This list reflects SpaceX’s pattern of locating facilities based on function: manufacturing and engineering clusters in California and Texas, launch sites near coastlines suited to specific launch trajectories (Cape Canaveral for eastward/ISS-related launches, Starbase and Vandenberg for other trajectories), and government affairs offices near Washington, D.C.
The Woodinville/Redmond, Washington Connection
Searches for “SpaceX Woodinville” generally point toward SpaceX’s broader Seattle-area presence, with facilities in nearby Redmond, Washington dedicated to Starlink satellite work – design, development, and manufacturing of the satellites that make up the Starlink constellation. This Pacific Northwest presence reflects SpaceX’s strategy of building out Starlink-specific operations somewhat separately from its rocket-focused California and Texas facilities, given the different engineering disciplines involved (satellite design and manufacturing versus rocket and engine development).
Can You Visit SpaceX? What’s Actually Possible
This depends heavily on which facility:
- Hawthorne: The headquarters and manufacturing campus is not generally open to public tours – it’s an active production facility, not a visitor attraction
- Starbase: There are no official, ticketed public tours of Starbase itself. However, much of the facility – launch pads, Starship vehicles, and test infrastructure – is visible from public roads and Boca Chica Beach, which remains open to the public year-round (subject to closures during testing/launch activity). This has made Starbase a genuine, if unconventional, destination for space enthusiasts – described by some visitors as offering ‘raw, unfiltered access’ compared to the polished visitor centers at places like Kennedy Space Center
- McGregor and other facilities: Generally not open to public visits, being active engineering and testing sites
For anyone planning a Starbase visit specifically: Highway 4 east out of Brownsville leads to the area, with roadside viewing of much of the facility, and Boca Chica Beach itself offers additional vantage points. Checking county road closure notices before traveling is worth doing, since Highway 4 is sometimes closed during Starship testing activity. Nearby South Padre Island and Port Isabel offer lodging, food, and additional space-themed attractions for visitors making a trip of it.
Other Locations That Come Up in Searches
A number of other cities appear frequently in SpaceX location searches, generally reflecting smaller offices, supplier relationships, or simply confusion with SpaceX’s broader presence across California and the Southwest:
- Long Beach, CA: Near Hawthorne in the LA area – some searches likely reflect proximity to the main Hawthorne campus or confusion with other aerospace companies historically based in Long Beach
- Santa Barbara, CA: Closer to SpaceX’s Vandenberg-area operations (via the Lompoc facility) than to Hawthorne, though not itself a primary SpaceX site
- San Diego, CA: Not a primary SpaceX location, though Southern California’s broader aerospace and defense industry presence means San Diego-area searches sometimes get grouped with SpaceX-related queries
- Arizona: Not a current primary SpaceX facility location based on available information – Arizona searches may reflect confusion with other aerospace or tech companies with Arizona operations
For most of these searches, the underlying intent is often simply “where does SpaceX have offices near me” – and the honest answer is that SpaceX’s major US facilities are concentrated in Southern California (Hawthorne, Lompoc/Vandenberg-area), Texas (Starbase, McGregor, Bastrop), Florida (Cape Canaveral), Washington (Redmond), and the DC area (government affairs) – with most other locations representing smaller offices, supplier relationships, or simply not being current SpaceX sites at all.
Washington, D.C. Office and Photos
SpaceX’s Washington, D.C. office (at 1155 F St NW) serves government affairs and regulatory functions – a natural fit given SpaceX’s substantial government and defense contract work with agencies like NASA and the Department of Defense. This is a standard office location rather than a manufacturing or launch site, so it doesn’t have the kind of visually distinctive facilities (rockets, launch pads) that make Hawthorne or Starbase popular subjects for photos – searches for “SpaceX Washington DC photos” likely reflect general curiosity about the office rather than the existence of notable visual landmarks there.
SpaceX’s growth in the Brownsville/Starbase area has been substantial – the area’s SpaceX operations reportedly support thousands of jobs, reflecting the scale of the Starship production and testing operations there. For anyone researching SpaceX careers specifically in the Brownsville/South Texas area, the company’s careers page (linked from SpaceX’s main site) lists openings across all its locations, including the growing Starbase/South Texas operations specifically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is SpaceX headquartered?
SpaceX’s historic headquarters is in Hawthorne, California (1 Rocket Road). In 2024, Elon Musk announced plans to relocate headquarters to Starbase, Texas, which was officially incorporated as a city in 2025. As of 2026, SpaceX’s center of gravity has shifted significantly toward Texas, though Hawthorne remains operationally significant for production and mission control.
What is Starbase, and where is it?
Starbase is SpaceX’s Starship development, testing, and launch facility near Boca Chica Beach, outside Brownsville, Texas. It was officially incorporated as a Texas city in 2025 and serves as SpaceX’s primary hub for Starship operations.
Can you visit SpaceX’s Starbase?
There are no official, ticketed public tours of Starbase. However, much of the facility is visible from public roads (Highway 4) and from Boca Chica Beach, which is open to the public year-round, subject to occasional closures during Starship testing.
What does SpaceX do at its Redmond/Woodinville, Washington facility?
SpaceX’s Redmond, Washington area facilities are dedicated to Starlink satellite design, development, and manufacturing – distinct from the rocket-focused work done at its California and Texas locations.
What happens at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas facility?
McGregor is SpaceX’s rocket engine development and testing facility, where engines undergo extensive testing – including static-fire tests on dedicated test stands – before being integrated into rockets for flight.
Final Thoughts
SpaceX’s footprint has grown well beyond its original Hawthorne, California base – and the 2024 announcement to relocate headquarters to the newly-incorporated city of Starbase, Texas marks one of the more significant organizational shifts in the company’s history, even as the practical picture in 2026 involves both California and Texas playing major roles. For space enthusiasts, Starbase has become the most accessible (if unofficial) way to get close to SpaceX’s operations – not through a polished visitor center, but through roadside views of one of the most ambitious rocket programs ever attempted.
