On Saturday, July 30, 2016 at 11:30:14 AM UTC+12, Jeff Findley wrote:
In article , says...

On 7/29/2016 6:25 AM, Jeff Findley wrote:
Saw the Tweet last night, with video, of a full duration test firing of
a recovered Falcon 9 first stage at their McGregor, Texas facility.

I find it interesting that their original stated plan was to fire a
recovered booster several times at KSC, and to do so with a minimum of
delay. Clearly the idea behind that plan was to publicly show that
their recovered boosters had plenty of life left in them.

But then they changed the plan! Instead, they shipped that one all the
way to Texas for a test that took months to occur. Note that we weren't
allowed to know about the test until after the fact.

My guess is that the main reason for the move to Texas was to increase
their privacy so they could work in secret and totally control any press
coverage. These SpaceX folks clearly aren't dummies, so if they are
that concerned about a potentially embarrassing problem, I must assume
that they have good reason for their concern.

Firings at McGregor aren't terribly "secret". Hint: the neighbors
already complain a bit about the noise. These things are *loud*,
especially a first stage firing (nine engines at once).

Jeff
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Legislation was introduced in the Texas Legislature in early 2013 that limits liability for noise and some other specific commercial spaceflight risks faced by SpaceX. So, it doesn't really matter what the neighbours say. This in addition to a package of incentives including tax abatements and other State grants, to encourage SpaceX to locate in Texas was passed in October 2013.