> This map highlights working land in Texas, including depleted land near the Ocean that would meet the requirements Texas probably isn't a great launch site s

> This map highlights working land in Texas, including depleted land near the Ocean that would meet the requirements Texas probably isn't a great launch site since the vast majority of launch trajectories would take you over populated land at some point or another. There are only narrow corridors between Mexico/Cuba and Cuba/Florida, and that's far too limiting to be worth using as a launch site. > A few degrees upwards would not drastically change the ∆v savings acquired. In this case, moving the launch site from Boca Chica (approximate latitude 18.5 degrees north) to southern Texas (approximate latitude 26 degrees north) would result in geostationary orbit insertion burns needing 139 m/s of extra delta v. Not entirely sure how that translates to restrictions on payload size/lifetime. > They can test fire and develop rockets anywhere, including, say, farm land in Kansas or other states. They can, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea. IIRC rockets tend to be awkward to move around, with larger ones needing barge access, so being able to develop, test, and launch from the same place probably makes things more convenient. Whether that convenience is worth the cost to the development area, though, is another question.