Elon Musk is moving ahead with plans to create a town in Texas exclusively for SpaceX and its employees. SpaceX staff have filed a petition to create a new municipality named Starbase on the South Texas coast, where the company’s rocket launch facility is located. A SpaceX security manager is set to become the town’s first mayor.
Musk has moved his business from California to Texas over the years, developing facilities across multiple counties. Musk has been envisioning a Starbase town for years, but progress has accelerated recently as SpaceX employees began moving into nearby housing and temporary housing near the launch site.
According to a report in the New York Times, residents who work for SpaceX have filed an official petition with Cameron County to hold an incorporation election this month. The document, obtained by the NYT, reveals the city’s initial plans. Once this city is created, Musk will be making history by doing something no other company or business leader has ever done.
What happens when a Starbase is born?
The Starbase project remained stalled for years, due in part to a Texas law that requires support from a minimum number of residents and a majority of voters to establish a new municipality. However, SpaceX employees have begun living in converted housing and temporary housing near the company’s rocket launch sites, the report alleges.
This month, those residents petitioned Cameron County to hold an election, taking a step toward creating a new city, and the first details about Elon Musk’s vision for the proposed municipality emerged. Ta.
If approved, voters would be able to elect three city officials to become the city’s first mayor, including SpaceX security manager Gunnar Milburn. The petition outlines a community of approximately 500 residents, including 219 primary residents and more than 100 children, located near Boca Chica Beach at the end of State Route 4. At approximately 1.5 square miles in area, the proposed town is small by Texas standards. Most of the residents are renters and work for SpaceX.
But the petition does not say why Musk and SpaceX employees are pursuing the creation of Starbase or what benefits they aim to achieve. The proposed town could establish its own police and fire departments and pass ordinances.
Separately, Musk may also be considering the possibility of housing his employees in a development on the outskirts of Bastrop, near Austin. The area is home to a growing campus of mask companies, including a SpaceX manufacturing plant. The headquarters of a boring company that develops tunnel technology. And soon, an office for social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will also open.
