Texas town home to SpaceX renamed 'Starbase'
A Texan town, situated in the south-east near the Mexican border and home to Elon Musk's SpaceX company, will be given the name Starbase following a vote by residents.
Saturday's poll saw a total of 212 of the roughly 300 residents eligible to cast a ballot were in favor of formally organizing the community into a city, with only six against.
"Starbase, Texas is now a real city!" Musk exclaimed on X.
Newly named Starbase covers some 3.75 square kilometres near the SpaceX plant manufacturing the Starship rocket, designed to fly to Mars.
A statue of SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Saturday, May 3, 2025
Starbase, Texas: Population 500
The AFP news agency reported that around 500 people live around the base in Cameron County — on land mostly owned by SpaceX or its employees — citing official documents.
One of the landmarks in the settlement is a large bust of the tech billionaire. Residents also elected SpaceX manager Bobby Peden as their mayor.
"Becoming a city will help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity's place in space," the new city's handle posted on social media platform X.
SpaceX critics unhappy with new status
The move to incorporate Starbase as its own city separates it from Cameron Country, which previously rejected plans to build more housing for SpaceX employees. Starbase will now be able to approve construction projects itself.
Developments aren't going down well with some. Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, voiced concern over the environmental impact and warned of more "destruction."
"They would attempt more illegal dumping, they would build up their dangerous rocket operations and cause more seismic activity, cause our homes to shake, and that they would destroy more of the wildlife habitat in the region," she told AFP before the vote took place.
The changed city status allows Starbase to control building and permitting processes and avoid other regulatory red-tape, while collecting taxes and writing local law.
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