STARGATE, Research infrastructure at Starbase, Texas, United States

STARGATE is a research facility in Starbase, Texas, dedicated to radio astronomy and space technology. The installation houses specialized equipment and laboratories for observing cosmic signals and developing new technological solutions.

STARGATE was proposed in 2012 by Fredrick (Rick) Jenet, director of the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy at the University of Texas-Brownsville, with US$500,000 in seed money from the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation. In 2014 the Brownsville Economic Development Council bought 2.3 acres near Boca Chica Beach and named it the STARGATE subdivision, where a 12,000 sq ft tracking center was built. Two 9 m S-band antennas from the decommissioned Merritt Island station were installed in 2016–2017. The main facility was leased to SpaceX in 2019, sold to SpaceX by the UT System in December 2024, and demolished in April 2025 for the GigaBay plant.

STARGATE takes its name from Spacecraft Tracking and Astronomical Research into Gigahertz Astrophysical Transient Emission. It was proposed in 2012 by Fredrick (Rick) Jenet, director of the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy at the University of Texas at Brownsville, so that students and faculty could work hands-on with radio-frequency technology used in spaceflight, including satellite and spacecraft tracking. Two 9 m S-band antennas came from the decommissioned Merritt Island tracking station.

The STARGATE building no longer stands: SpaceX demolished it in April 2025 to clear the site for its GigaBay manufacturing facility, so there is nothing to tour at the Starbase location. The project's remaining assets, including work tied to the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy, continued at other sites, chiefly UTRGV's main campus in Brownsville. The two 9 m S-band tracking antennas installed in 2016–2017 stood beside the SpaceX launch site, about 2 miles from Boca Chica Beach.

Located at coordinates 25.985401, -97.187263, STARGATE operates specialized equipment for detecting and analyzing radio waves from distant celestial objects.