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Scientific American
3 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
SpaceX's Starbase Is Officially a City. Some Neighbors Aren't Thrilled
Before SpaceX's Starship lost control and exploded over the Indian Ocean during its ninth test flight, the 400-foot-tall megarocket blasted off from Texas's newest city. Starbase, situated on 1.5 square miles of the Lone Star State's southernmost tip in the Rio Grande Valley, is mostly made up of SpaceX employees living on company-owned property and abuts a habitat for endangered wildlife, as well as a public beach. Starbase serves as the main testing and launch location for Starship, SpaceX's planned fully reusable spacecraft, which is meant to revolutionize human and uncrewed space travel with its gargantuan payload capacity and rapid-fire flight cadence. If Starship's development proceeds as planned, the megarocket could soon be ferrying crew and cargo alike to multiple otherworldly destinations—such as the lunar surface, for NASA's Artemis program, and Mars, in fulfillment of SpaceX founder Elon Musk's long-stated dream. But nearby residents worry about less glamorous local effects, fearing that a town built around the space company could continue SpaceX's alleged pattern of polluting the area and blocking access to the nearby beach and other open public spaces. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. 'SpaceX has already proven itself to be an extremely bad neighbor,' says Christopher Basaldú, an anthropologist and environmentalist and co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, who lives in nearby Brownsville, Tex. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Long before it was Starbase, the area's beaches, tidal flats and wetlands were of great significance to the Indigenous Carrizo/Comecrudo people (or Esto'k Gna in their own language). Many of them still live nearby as members of the modern-day Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. Today the area is largely Latino and among the poorest in the country. Musk's space company began buying up property there in 2012; ever since company housing and rocket-related infrastructure have steadily sprouted. 'We've grown quite a bit just in the last couple of years. It's a couple hundred employees [and] their families, living amongst actual rockets,' said Daniel Huot, a SpaceX communications manager, during a company livestream before Tuesday's Starship test flight. Huot added that the move to incorporate what was formerly Boca Chica Village as Starbase will help the company 'scale more quickly [to] try to build out the best community possible for all the people that are building the future of humanity's place in space.' Even before SpaceX began launching rockets at the site, neighbors complained about potential environmental woes stemming from the company's operations. In a 2018 press conference, Musk dismissed such concerns, saying 'We've got a lot of land with no one around, and so if [a rocket] blows up, it's cool.' The first launch of the 40-story-tall Starship vehicle in April 2023 didn't entirely proceed as planned —it blew up the concrete launch pad and left a literal crater behind. Particulate debris, as well as concrete and steel shrapnel from the botched launch, scattered far and wide across the surrounding landscape, igniting fires and slamming into protected habitats and public beaches. Ash, dust and sand grains hurled aloft by this first Starship flight test rained down as far out as Port Isabel, Tex., about five miles from the launch site. Local environmentalists have also sounded the alarm on how the company's activities at Starbase could increase chemical and sonic pollution that puts migratory birds and other vulnerable endangered species in the area at greater risk. Despite these brewing tensions, Starbase was incorporated in early May, making it the first new city in Cameron County, Texas, in 30 years. Only people who live in the immediate area—almost all of them SpaceX employees—were eligible to vote for the new city. Residents voted 212 for and six against. The city's mayor and commissioners—all current or former SpaceX employees—ran unopposed. 'Now [SpaceX has] stolen away not only a neighborhood but the land around it, which had been basically environmentally untouched areas,' says Basaldú, who is a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe. Starbase's boundaries snake along State Highway 4, which provides the only access to both Starbase and the open-to-the-public Boca Chica Beach. A bill pending in the Texas Legislature would shift control over weekday closures of the beach and nearby roadways from the county commissioners to Starbase city leaders now that Starbase is a municipality under law. 'As a community, we were there first,' says Suquiery Santillana, a resident of nearby Brownsville, Tex., who has visited Boca Chica Beach since childhood. 'I'm almost 50, and now my grandkids are going.' Her family's trips to the isolated shoreline now include wide-eyed roadside spectators from all across the country who want to catch a glimpse of the SpaceX launch site. While Santillana is happy that SpaceX has brought jobs to the area, she would like the company to communicate more about upcoming closures and launch plans with locals. Members of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe also trace their creation story to this once-pristine beach. The intermittent access restrictions imposed by SpaceX's launches, some tribe members say, limit them from freely participating in traditions such as fishing and tribal ceremonies that have been taking place on their ancestral land for thousands of years. Activity at the site could soon ramp up even more. On May 22 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it had granted approval for SpaceX to increase the annual number of Starbase launches from five to 25. Eventually, Starship flights from the site could far exceed that because the vehicle is designed for very fast turnaround times and an unprecedentedly high launch cadence. Starship's sheer size, coupled with more frequent launches, could balloon Starbase's overall environmental footprint while also essentially shutting down Highway 4 for much of the year. The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For now, Starbase is poised to continue its rapid development and expansion, with plans in the works for more housing, offices and rocket launch facilities. Jim Chapman of the local environmental justice nonprofit Save RGV (Rio Grande Valley) worries that Starbase's incorporation could allow SpaceX to skirt important regulatory hurdles. '[SpaceX has] fewer layers of bureaucracy that [it has] to go through and get approval from,' he says. 'But on the other hand, I haven't really seen the county denying [it] anything.' As SpaceX vies to fly ever more powerful rockets in pursuit of Musk's interplanetary aspirations, local residents also fear that the company's launch activity and its proximity to new natural gas projects could pose grave threats to Rio Grande Valley communities. One such project currently under construction is less than six miles from the launch site—too close for comfort, some critics say, given the possibility of volatile explosions sparked by showers of fiery rocket debris. If Musk's latest projections are to be trusted (he often overpromises and underdelivers on meeting ambitious rocketry deadlines), additional Starship test flights will blast off from Starbase every few weeks for the rest of the summer. Time will tell if the company will be mindful of those who live next door.
Times of Oman
05-05-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
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.
Economic Times
04-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
SpaceX's Starbase gets the green light from voters: Elon Musk's Texas dream city becomes reality
Boca Chica Village, a small community in South Texas, is now officially recognised as Starbase. In a historic vote on Saturday, 212 residents voted in favour, and just six against, the creation of this new municipality. The area, which spans approximately 1.45 square miles, has served as the launch site for SpaceX's Starship rocket programme since 2011. The result marks a significant milestone in Elon Musk's long-held vision to establish a new community around his rocket celebrated the vote on his social media platform X, declaring, 'Starbase, Texas is now a real city!' This incorporation grants the area its own local government, with a mayor and two commissioners who will oversee zoning, taxation, and development plans. The idea of forming a city around SpaceX's operations first emerged in 2021, when Musk suggested naming the area "Starbase." Over time, this concept gained momentum, and the local population—mostly SpaceX employees and their families—largely supported the move. Of the 283 eligible voters in the area, nearly all are connected to SpaceX, and early voting figures indicated strong backing for the headquarters and launch site have dramatically reshaped the once peaceful retirement community of Boca Chica. The transformation has brought thousands of jobs and billions in investment to the region, but critics fear it also consolidates Musk's control over local life. The newly established city government will have significant authority, including overseeing the pace and direction of development in the the strong support for incorporation, there are critics who worry about the long-term impact of corporate governance in the area. One of the primary concerns is the potential to limit public access to Boca Chica Beach and State Park. SpaceX has requested the authority to close the beach for rocket launches, which some argue could negatively affect the broader community who use the beach regularly. In a letter to local officials in 2024, Kathryn Lueders, Starbase General Manager, wrote, 'We need the ability to grow Starbase as a community.' SpaceX claims the ability to close the beach would streamline rocket launches, which often require highway and beach access closures. However, many residents and environmental groups, such as the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, strongly oppose the Hinojosa, a local resident, expressed her concern at a recent protest, saying, 'Some days it's closed, and some days you get turned away.' Her family has enjoyed the beach for generations, and she fears losing access due to corporate control. Christopher Basaldú, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas, echoed similar sentiments, adding, 'It's not just important, it's sacred.'As the newly formed city prepares for growth, the implications of tech-driven city-building are already coming into focus. Starbase could set a precedent for other tech companies to follow suit, creating private cities with their own governance and rules. While the move offers SpaceX greater flexibility in planning and development, it also raises questions about the power companies could wield over local communities. Local officials, including Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr., have expressed concern about the centralisation of power. Trevino has stated that the county government has worked well with SpaceX so far and that there is no need for the city's new authorities to have control over public areas like the beach. Another proposed bill aims to make it a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail, for anyone refusing to evacuate the beach during closures. Critics argue this would further consolidate control over the push for incorporation stems, in part, from its need for more housing to accommodate its growing workforce. With around 260 employees living in the area, plus their families, the total population is pushing close to 500. An additional 3,100 workers commute from nearby Brownsville, Texas, but SpaceX has struggled to provide enough housing. A proposal to build more homes was rejected by the county earlier this the area surrounding SpaceX resembles a scene from a science fiction film. The town is dotted with futuristic manufacturing facilities, rows of nearly identical houses, and even a large bronze bust of Elon Musk. As SpaceX plans to increase the number of launches from five to 25 per year, the city's governance will play a key role in shaping the future of the region. With the creation of Starbase, SpaceX and its employees are now in charge of their own city. Whether this move will bring long-term benefits to the region or fuel further controversy remains to be seen. As the company continues to develop its Starship programme, the small town at the southern tip of Texas could become a symbol of what the future holds for tech-driven urbanisation. While the potential for economic growth is high, questions about corporate control and environmental impact will likely continue to surface as Starbase evolves.
NBC News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
South Texans set a course for Musk's Starbase
Voters will also be choosing the first mayor of Starbase and two city commissioners. The candidates for all three positions are employees of SpaceX and are running unopposed. As of Tuesday, 181 people had already cast early ballots, according to county election records, including the candidates for mayor and city commissioners. Musk, who is eligible to vote in this Cameron County special election, has not yet shown up in early voting data. It's not clear why Musk or SpaceX want to turn the area into their own city. The company did not respond to a request for comment. Remi Garza, head of elections for Cameron County, said counties are usually more limited in their authority over cities. 'They don't have the ability to sort of control growth or set standards the same way the municipality could, where they could adopt city codes, building codes and things like that,' he said, adding that cities can exert greater influence over planning and development. Musk first publicly discussed the idea of a city named Starbase in 2021. The coastal spot is where SpaceX builds its boosters and engines and launches its huge Starship rocket on test flights. Having greater municipal control could ease some of the red tape around those activities. Earlier this week, however, Texas lawmakers voted against a bill that would have given SpaceX great control over public beach access near its launch facility. Normally, SpaceX must obtain permission from authorities in Cameron County to close a highway and shut down public access to Boca Chica Beach and Boca Chica State Park to keep people safe during rocket launches. The frequent closures have contributed to legal complaints against SpaceX, and have drawn protests from local residents and activists, including the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, the South Texas Environmental Justice Network and Border Workers United, .
