Since SpaceX came to town, the talk has been about cultivating in Brownsville a “new-space ecosystem,” an expanding cluster of companies representing many facets of the commercial space sector — not just building and launching rockets.
That cluster appears to be taking shape, first with the announcement late last year that Spaced Ventures, an online public platform for investing in new-space enterprises, would locate in Brownsville, and now with the April 19 announcement that Space Channel Inc. is bringing its headquarters and studio from Los Angeles, Calif., to Brownsville.
Space Channel is a news, information and entertainment outlet “dedicated to all things space,” according to the announcement. Helen Ramirez, Brownsville deputy city manager and executive director of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, said GBIC was introduced to Space Channel through its dealings with Spaced Ventures.
In exchange for moving its headquarters to Brownsville, hiring and training locally, marketing local events and generally raising Brownsville’s international media profile as an up-and-coming space place, Space Channel will receive incentives from GBIC, she said, but declined to offer specifics. Ramirez said the city and GBIC have committed to a new-space economic development strategy and that media is a vital piece.
One of her first acts upon being appointed GBIC chief in February was to shepherd through a budget amendment re-purposing some amount of unspent funds for new-space initiatives, she said.
“GBIC’s motto right now is it doesn’t really matter what size business you are, we want to talk to you,” Ramirez said. “What we’re doing is diversifying our economy.”
The Space Channel studio may be located in the historic former Pan American Airways terminal building at the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport, though the company is scouting other locations in Brownsville as well, she said. The company expects to begin broadcasting from its new Brownsville studio by June.
Space Channel is available on internet-connected televisions in over 30 million households with the PLEX media player app and the TCL Channel app, on TCL televisions and others to come, according to the company. Space Channel’s programming, which eventually will include live programming of SpaceX launches from Boca Chica, can also be viewed at spacechannel.com.
Space Channel Chief Operating Officer Robert Schefferine said in the announcement that the company is “thrilled to be working with such forward-thinking professionals” in Brownsville.
“With the city establishing itself as a new spaceport hub in Texas, the fit was perfect for us,” he said. “We are excited to be a part of Brownsville’s expansion and look forward to producing weekly programming and events from our new studio.”
Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez noted that no other television channel is dedicated exclusively to space.
“It’s kind of like let’s say the Golf Channel, just a channel entirely devoted to space and space-related matters,” he said. “It’s certainly a great thing for us and fun and exciting, and another success we can point to in the space industry.
“People I think don’t realize how big this industry is and how much Brownsville is on the map. We are generally becoming and working our way toward becoming the next space city. It’s huge. It really is just game changing with the jobs that it brings, the professionals that it brings, the changes to the economy. It changes the entire landscape of the city.”
Meanwhile, the presence in Brownsville of Spaced Ventures, which is about to go live, and Space Channel is evidence that a new-space ecosystem is indeed beginning to crystallize, Mendez said.
“Companies are interested and they want to be here,” he said. “It’s everything we thought it could be, and more really. We’re in negotiations with at least two other companies. We’re not talking about small companies. We’re talking about really legitimate companies that are doing major things in the industry. It’s really happening.”
