[Image: Image Gazer / Facebook]
SpaceX’s dream of turning its rocket headquarters into an official city came one step closer this week when the local court set a date for a vote on whether it gets municipal status.
It seems a done deal as the majority of residents in the 38-square-kilometre area, known as Starbase, work for SpaceX. In fact, out of the 247 houses in the proposed city limits, only ten are not company-owned. This would make Starbase almost entirely a privately owned city.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. called an election for May 3, with Elon Musk tweeting that it “will soon be official.”
Starbase, Texas, will soon be an official new city https://t.co/ZODDi4EZKA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2025
Not everyone shares the excitement though. Environmental activists have raised concerns over “unchecked development”, and neighbouring towns are also worried that they’ll lose access to local beaches. Some have even speculated SpaceX could use the municipality to leverage more public money, such as state and federal grants.
Also, there’s just the sinister idea of having a billionaire’s private spaceport as a neighbour that gives off Dr No vibes – more so if the owner of the city sits at the right hand of the President. Good luck driving through Starbase City without ICE getting up in your grill.
“This is going to happen. The vote’s going to go through.”
Kathy Lueders, Starbase’s general manager, said the company needs the area to have its own government in order to grow. SpaceX has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure and generated hundreds of millions in income and taxes for local businesses and government, she said.
Lueders also insisted that municipal status won’t interfere with the “extensive list of environmental mitigations” SpaceX already has in place.
“Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live, for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity’s future in space.”
Starbase is situated on the southern edge of Texas near the U.S.-Mexican border, and once approval is given, it will be run by a mayor and two city commissioners. Three candidates have already applied for those positions, all seemingly unopposed. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX security manager, Gunnar Milburn, will become the first mayor of Starport. But just like 13 other Americans, he’ll know who his daddy is.
[Source: Mashable]
