STARGATE

STARGATE—Spacecraft Tracking and Astronomical Research into Gigahertz Astrophysical Transient Emission—is a radio-frequency (RF) technology facility under development next to the SpaceX Starbase in south Texas. The facility is intended to provide students and faculty access to RF technologies widely used in spaceflight operations, and will include satellite and spacecraft tracking. History The Spacecraft Tracking and Astronomical Research into Gigahertz Astrophysical Transient Emission facility was proposed in 2012 by Fredrick (Rick) Jenet, director of the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy (CARA) and an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Texas-Brownsville. Initial funding included in seed money provided by the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation in October 2012, as part of a package to increase the likelihood of attracting SpaceX to build a launch site in the area. In 2014, following the announcement of the SpaceX private spaceport being built near Boca Chica Beach, the Brownsville Economic Development Council (BEDC) purchased several lots in Boca Chica Village totaling approximately from the SpaceX launch site and renamed it as the STARGATE subdivision. The land is used for the STARGATE project including the construction of a tracking center.