SpaceX workers in South Texas vote yes to create City of Starbase

This article was originally published by Texas Tribune.

BROWNSVILLE — Elon Musk’s wish to create his own city just came true.

On Saturday, voters living around SpaceX’s rocket testing and launch facility in South Texas approved a measure to incorporate the area as a new city. Soon after polls closed at 7 p.m., Cameron County election officials confirmed that overwhelming support among early voters clinched the election in favor of creating the City of Starbase.

Unofficial results later in the night showed the election was a landslide: 212 voted in favor; 6 opposed.

After the county certifies the results, the new city will be official.

Musk celebrated the vote Saturday night with a single word posted to X: “S T A R B A S E.”

But there were no signs of a celebration at Starbase itself. After a gray, rainy Election Day, the soon-to-be-city had a quiet night. No fireworks. No street parties. A few folks gathered at the Astropub, a bar for SpaceX employees, late into the evening.

Only 283 people, those who live within the boundaries of the proposed city, were eligible to vote in the election. A Texas Newsroom analysis of the voter rolls showed two-thirds of them either work for SpaceX or had already indicated their support.

The three unopposed people who ran to lead the city also have ties to SpaceX.

It’s not clear if Musk, whose primary residence is here, cast a ballot.

The vote clears the way for Musk to try to capture more control over the nearby public beach, which must be closed for launches. On Saturday afternoon, a few dozen activists who say the company has harmed sensitive habitats and ignored the cultural importance of the land rallied on the beach — with an Elon Musk piñata in tow.

“These hills here are sacred to us,” Juan Mancias, chair of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, told The Texas Newsroom. “They don’t know the history of the land, and they’re trying to erase that.”

Creating a city in Texas is not unusual. New ones are formed all the time. Company towns are also an undeniably American feature.

But Musk may be the first entrepreneur in modern history to incorporate his own town almost solely for his employees. And the effort may not be his last. He’s also floated the idea of founding another city at his corporate compound outside Austin.

Musk and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the election.

The City of Starbase 

On Saturday morning, voters wearing SpaceX and Starbase T-shirts and baseball hats strolled in and out of the special polling place set up on the company’s campus. Most declined to speak about the election.

A man leaving the polling place cautioned that he was not authorized to speak to the media but said he supports the new city.

“I think it’s a net benefit for everyone,” he said, “but not a lot of people will understand why.”

Unlike other tech leaders, who built their campuses in Silicon Valley, SpaceX Starbase is perched on the far edge of Texas, about 20 miles outside Brownsville. Next to SpaceX’s main building are the remnants of an old beach village. Nearly all of the houses are now owned by the company.

One couple, who live in the village and said they don’t work for SpaceX, were among the few opposed to the new city.

“I voted no. I’m sure we’re the only ones out here who did,” said the woman, who did not want to give her name because of negative past experiences with the media.

Musk has been open about his desire to create a city here for years. By February, enough SpaceX employees had signed a petition to force a vote on the issue.

The new city will have approximately 500 official residents.

Starbase leaders have said incorporation will help the area continue to grow while giving them more control over functions it already managed, like roads and utilities.

City leaders could also adopt zoning ordinances that are more lenient than those of the county, allowing them to build more homes on the lots they already own.

“Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world class place to live — for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity’s future in space,” Starbase Manager Kathryn Lueders said in a letter to Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño.

Starship, the rocket Musk means to eventually take humans to Mars, launches from here.

The vote may also force SpaceX to be more transparent. As a governmental entity, Starbase will be subject to state laws that require open meetings and the release of public records.

Starbase and the future of Boca Chica Beach

Just down the road from the SpaceX launch site is Boca Chica Beach. A public strip sandwiched between South Padre Island and the Rio Grande, the beach is popular with locals who fish, drive and camp on its windy dunes.

The area has become less accessible in the years since SpaceX arrived. That’s because it must be evacuated for safety each time a rocket is tested. SpaceX is asking for approval to increase its launches from about five to 25 times a year.

Right now, Cameron County commissioners decide when to close access to the beach. That may soon change.

SpaceX is backing a bill making its way through the Texas Legislature that would shift the beach closure authority to Starbase city commissioners on weekdays. It has already been approved by the Texas Senate and is pending a vote by the full House.

State Sen. Adam Hinojosa, a Republican from Corpus Christi and the bill’s author, said the purpose of handing over that power to the soon-to-be city was to streamline the current process.

Cameron County commissioners, who have publicly opposed the bill, said they worked well with SpaceX and found no reason to change the process.

At the beach on Saturday, the protesters said local politicians have not properly protected the land. Environmentalists, indigenous leaders and local fishermen said the beach needs to remain out of SpaceX’s control.

“It’s just such a disgrace on what’s happening out here,” said Rene Medrano, who grew up going to this beach. “There’s a lot of upset community people who are seeing there’s a great chance that we may lose this beach.

“And now they’re starting to raise their voices a little bit, which is what we need.”

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.