SpaceX Moving Starship Test Work to Texas From L.A.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which announced significant layoffs Friday, is moving the testing of its Starship prototype vehicle from the Port of Los Angeles to its site in south Texas.

In April, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was starting production development of the Big Falcon Rocket, now called Starship, at the Port of Los Angeles. SpaceX has said the new, larger vehicle -- designed to carry humans on quick hops across the world and eventually to Mars -- would need to be built near the water, given its size. SpaceX has a launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico coast near Brownsville. The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.