Texas town becomes 'Starbase': SpaceX gains city rights

Boca Chica, where Elon Musk has already established a launch base for SpaceX rockets, is a small locality in Cameron County, Texas, situated 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. Although the town covers an area of just over 3.8 square kilometres, it has made room for a monumental, nearly 3-metre-high golden bust of Elon Musk, complete with a plaque reading "ELON aka Memelord," as well as a "Meme Street" and a bar symbolically named "Occupy Mars."

Following a referendum, several hundred residents decided to transform Boca Chica into the city of Starbase, which was almost a certainty given that out of 500 residents, as many as 260 are SpaceX employees. The proposal to change the town’s name passed by a vote of 212 to 6, despite earlier protests. A group of activists from the South Texas Environmental Justice Network opposed it, arguing that the creation of Starbase would restrict access to the city beach and public areas. They urged Texas residents to send protest emails to the 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 declared on the X platform.

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

This development brings SpaceX closer to its plan to increase the number of rocket launches from five to 25 annually, which requires federal approval and involves the need for more frequent road closures and beach access restrictions. Concerning these closures, SpaceX will now be able to make decisions independently—Starbase has acquired powers previously belonging to Cameron County authorities, including the closure of beaches and public areas.

Bestowing city status upon Starbase grants SpaceX increased control over access to areas around the base, which is essential for safety and space operations, but also raises controversies. Critics fear it will extend Musk's power and authority over the areas, including the potential closure of public beaches and parts of Boca Chica State Park, which residents and environmental groups contest.

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