- ADVERTISEMENT - Company officials could not immediately be reached. SpaceX approached port staff several months ago, and the deal came together rather quickly, Director Mario Cordero said in an interview. “We’re honored, as our signage says, to be the ‘port of choice’ for SpaceX,” Cordero said. “We look forward to a collaborative relationship with them.” The company will occupy a facility at Pier T beginning May 1, which will house the company’s West Coast launch vehicle recovery operations. The Port of Long Beach said in a statement that the company would take over a waterfront facility vacated one year ago by Sea Launch, a commercial satellite launching company that had been at the port for 20 years.