It's no longer just an idea thrown around on Twitter, but a real community with elected officials and everything it takes: Starbase, the city designed for and by SpaceX, has been approved by the ballot box. The vote, held in a portion of Cameron County, Texas, garnered 212 votes in favor and only 6 against. It only needed 143 for it to pass.
A SpaceX City, Questions Still Unanswered
The result: a 390-hectare area, where SpaceX assembles its engines and launches its giant Starship rockets, is becoming a city in its own right. It's a stone's throw from Mexico, on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, and at the heart of Elon Musk's space activities. For years, his company has had to go through local authorities to close roads or block access to the public beach in Boca Chica before each launch. With Starbase, these procedures could be greatly simplified.
The first elected officials have also been chosen: a mayor, Bobby Pedden, and two commissioners, Jordan Buss and Jenna Petrzelka. All three work at SpaceX. None of them had an opponent.
Starbase is shaping up to be an old-fashioned "company town," with a majority of residents employed by the company. A model that raises eyebrows, but which reflects the scale of SpaceX's growth in this region of Texas.
This vote marks an important step for Elon Musk, whose influence in the region is only growing. But not everyone is jumping for joy. Some local associations and representatives of the Carrizo Comecrudo indigenous tribe have long denounced the impact of SpaceX's activities on the environment and access to public sites. The creation of Starbase—the city—risks exacerbating these tensions.
Officially, neither Elon Musk nor SpaceX have explained in great detail why they were so keen to have their own city. But the gain in autonomy seems obvious. Even if, for now, certain formalities remain to be settled: the results of the vote must still be validated within two weeks by the county authorities.
On the county side, Judge Eddie TreviƱo warns: there's no question of turning everything upside down. "We think we've been good partners for SpaceX so far. If it works, there's no need to change," he told NBC.
In short, Starbase could become an accelerator for Elon Musk's space ambitions. But cohabitation with the rest of the terrestrial world promises to be a little more turbulent.
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