McAllen, Texas – The House of South Texas of Spacex Rocket Company by Elon Musk is now an official city with a galactic name: Starbase.
A vote on Saturday to formally organize Starbase as a city was approved by an unequal margin among the small group of voters who live there and mostly are Employees of Musk in Spacex. With all the votes, the count was 212 in favor of 6 against, according to the results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department.
Musk celebrated in a publication on its social platform, X, saying that it is “now a real city!”
Starbase is the installation and launch site of the Spacex Rocket program that is under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA that hopes to send the astronauts back to the moon and someday to Mars.
Musk first floated the idea of Starbase in 2021 and the approval of the new city was safe. Of the 283 eligible voters in the area, it is believed that most are Starbase workers.
The electoral victory was personal for musk. The billionaire Popularity has decreased Since it became the handle public face of President Donald Trump’s federal work and Cortes of spendingand earnings in their Tesla car company have shrunken.
Spacex has generally attracted broad support from local officials for their jobs and investments in the area.
But the creation of an official city of the company has also attracted critics who care that Musk’s personal control over the area will expand, with a potential authority to close a beach and a popular state park for launches.
The complementary efforts for the vote of the city include bills in the state legislature to change that county authority to the mayor and the City of the New City.
All these measures occur when Spacex is asking permission from federal authorities to increase the number of launches in southern Texas from five to 25 per year.
The city at the southern far of Texas, near the border of Mexico, is only approximately 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers), crossed by some roads and mottled with air trailers and modest houses in the middle of the century.
Spacex officials have said little about why they want a city of the company and did not respond to requests for comments by email.
“We need the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” wrote Kathryn Lueders, general manager of Starbase, wrote to local officials in 2024 with the request to obtain the problem of the city on the ballot.
The letter said that the company already manages roads and public services, as well as “the provisions of schooling and medical care” for those who live in the property.
SPACEX officials have told legislators to grant the city authority to close the beach would optimize launch operations. Spacex Rocket is launched and motor tests, and even simply move certain equipment around the launch base requires the closure of a local road and access to the Boca Chica and Boca Chica Beach State Park.
Critics say that Beach’s closing authority should keep the county government, which represents a broader population that uses the beach and the park. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr. has said that the county has worked well with Spacex and that there is no need for change.
Another proposed bill would make it a lesser crime of class B with up to 180 days in jail if someone does not comply with the order to evacuate the beach.
The Environmental Justice Network of Southern Texas, which has organized protests against the city’s vote and the problem of access to the beach, made another demonstration on Saturday that attracted dozens of people.
Josette Hinojosa, whose little daughter was building a sand castle, said she was participating to try to guarantee continuous access to a beach that her family has enjoyed for generations.
With Spacex, Hinojosa said: “Some days is closed, and some days reject you,”
Organizer Christopher Basaldú, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas tribe, said his ancestors have been in the area, where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf.
“It’s not just important,” he said, “it’s sacred.”
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Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas.
