The city of Starbase? How Elon Musk incorporated his SpaceX launch site in Texas

Starbase may sound like some sort of galactic outpost located in the far reaches of space, but in fact, it's just the newest city in Texas.
Voters on Saturday, May 3 approved a measure to officially recognize the headquarters of billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX commercial rocket company as a city of its own. Starbase, the massive complex located in South Texas, is not only home to many of SpaceX's launch operations, but many of its employees as well.
Now, the complex will be transformed into a city, complete with its own mayor and city council.
The landslide results of the special election delivered a critical victory to Musk. The tech mogul, also the world's richest man, recently stepped away from his role in the White House as he and his companies have become increasingly polarizing.
Here's what to know about Starbase and how it became a city:
What is Starbase?
Under construction since the 2010s, Starbase is a company town built about 23 miles from Brownsville in South Texas. The site is located in Cameron County, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border.
SpaceX Starbase, situated off of State Highway 4, is framed in a windshield on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas.
The new city of Starbase, which already has its own account on Musk's social media site X, is home to SpaceX's rocket program and is where the vehicles are both built and often launched. The complex, about 1.5 square miles in size, houses a landing pad, launch facility, launch control center and tracking station for SpaceX.
SpaceX, which Musk founded in 2002, is under contract with both the Department of Defense and NASA, which hopes to use the commercial spaceflight company's massive Starship rocket to send astronauts back to the moon.
Did Elon Musk make SpaceX launch site a Texas city?
A row of homes located on SpaceX owned property near Starbase on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas.
Musk first proposed incorporating Starbase as a city in 2021. A petition in December then paved the way for Saturday's vote.
Of the 283 people eligible to cast ballots in Saturday's Cameron County special election, 212 voted in favor of the measure while just six voted against it, according to results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department.
Residents of Cameron County are mostly SpaceX employees, the Associated Press reported.
Elon Musk celebrates voter approval on X
The election results represented a win for Musk, whose popularity has steadily declined since he began his public role with President Donald Trump's administration. Musk, who spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to help get Trump elected, has since January been leading efforts under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to dramatically slash government spending and cull the federal workforce.
It's a role that's been met with swift and rampant backlash, as Tesla, Musk's electric car company, has seen its stocks plummet and its dealerships targeted by both protesters and vandals.
Following news of Starbase's approval as a city, Musk celebrated in a post on X, saying it is 'now a real city!'
The formation of the new city comes after Musk announced his intentions in July 2024 to move his company, as well as social media platform X's headquarters, from California to Texas. The move was in response to his personal frustrations over a public school policy in California regarding transgender students.
Why does Elon Musk want Starbase to be a city?
Musk and SpaceX officials have been relatively tight-lipped about exactly why they to wanted the company's headquarters to become a town.
Many have speculated, however, that the city designation will give Musk and SpaceX greater municipal control of the area and eliminate some of the red tape the company has to navigate before a launch, according to multiple reports.
Musk has regularly clashed with federal regulators and lambasted what he sees as government overreach for his space ventures.
Some critics opposed SpaceX, election
While many local officials have lauded SpaceX for the investment and employment opportunities the company has brought to the region, not all have been happy with its space program.
Some activists who have regularly protested and opposed Musk's expansion efforts have been critical of the what they see as the billionaire's quest to assert control over the area. That includes members with the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, which most recently organized a protest Saturday, May 3 against the city vote.
In a statement to the USA TODAY Network, Christopher Basaldú, a member of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network and native Esto'k Gna Tribe, called the election "a private corporate takeover of pristine natural lands."
"SpaceX never consulted with the Esto'K Gna about damaging our sacred beach for dangerous, polluting rocket testing and destructive daily operations," Basaldú said in the statement.
Does Starship launch from Starbase?
SpaceX's Starship is a massive launch vehicle standing about 400 feet tall. The spacecraft, which is still in development, launches from the company's Starbase in South Texas.
One of the most prominent operations at Starbase is the ongoing development and testing of SpaceX's massive Starship rocket. Starship, the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, towers over SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket – one of the world's most active – which stands at nearly 230 feet.
The 400-foot Starship is due to play a pivotal role in the years ahead in deep-space expeditions, as NASA eyes a return to the moon ahead of crewed voyages to Mars.
But the next-generation spacecraft has yet to reach orbit on any of its eight uncrewed flight tests, which began in 2023. Starship's most recent two demonstrations ended with the vehicle exploding in the sky and raining down debris, though its rocket booster also successfully returned in both tests to the launch pad.
Amid the ongoing testing, Musk has requested federal approval to increase the number of South Texas launches from five a year to a whopping 25.
Musk also has stated his desire for SpaceX to launch an uncrewed Starship to Mars by the end of 2026. Under Musk's vision, humans could then land on the Red Planet in 2029, though he admitted 2031 is "more likely."
This article has been updated to add new information.
Contributing: Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Did Elon Musk make Starbase a Texas city? What to know about SpaceX site

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