Boca Chica becomes Starbase: Musk's city gains autonomy

Boca Chica, where Elon Musk has already set up a launch base for SpaceX rockets, is a small community in Cameron County, Texas, located at the eastern edge of the US-Mexico border. Journalists from "The Guardian" describe this place as being full of old 20th-century homes, trailers, and palm trees. Though the town covers an area of just under 4 square kilometres, it hosts a monumental, golden bust of Elon Musk nearly 3 metres high, with a plaque reading "ELON aka Memelord," as well as a "Meme Street" and a bar symbolically named "Occupy Mars."

As a result of a referendum, several hundred residents opted to transform Boca Chica into the city of Starbase, a move almost certain to happen, given that out of 500 residents, approximately 260 are SpaceX employees. The proposal to change the town’s name passed with a vote count of 212 to 6, despite previous protests. A group of activists from the South Texas Environmental Justice Network opposed this change, arguing that the creation of Starbase would limit access to the city beach and public areas. They urged Texas residents to voice their opposition by sending protest emails to authorities.

"It’s official: Starbase is now an incorporated city in Texas. With local governance in place, we are excited to continue building the best city for our community," the city stated on the X platform.

Achieving city status for Starbase means the SpaceX launch base in Texas has become a formal administrative unit with its local government, led by a mayor and a board of commissioners, mostly linked to SpaceX. This gives SpaceX greater autonomy in managing the region's infrastructure, investments, and development, facilitating the company's organization of rocket launches and local public services, roads, and utilities management.

This development brings SpaceX closer to its plan to increase the number of rocket launches from 5 to 25 annually, requiring federal permission and involving more frequent road closures and beach access restrictions. Regarding closures, they will now decide independently—Starbase has acquired powers previously belonging to Cameron County authorities, including the authority to close beaches and public areas.

Granting city status to Starbase gives SpaceX greater control over access to areas around the base, which is crucial for safety and space operations. However, this decision also raises controversies. Critics fear it will expand Musk's power and authority over these areas, including the potential closure of public beaches and parts of Boca Chica State Park, a matter protested by residents and environmental organizations.

Starbase is a strategic location for SpaceX, serving as a rocket launch base for contracts with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defence. Although the billionaire will not formally manage the city of Starbase, in practice, it will operate as his corporate town. The first mayor is 36-year-old Bobby Peden, the Vice President of Testing and Launch Operations at SpaceX. The creation of Starbase will grant Musk greater opportunities to manage the area, which aims to support SpaceX’s work, including enabling road closures during rocket launches.