SpaceX gains local control as Starbase becomes a city

Elon Musk’s SpaceX company is getting its own official “company town.”

Residents around SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in South Texas voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to gain town status. The town will also be named Starbase.

According to results published on the Cameron County Elections Department website, there were 212 votes in favor and only 6 votes against.

Musk wrote in a post on the social media site X that Starbase in Texas “is now a real town.”

The majority of the new city’s residents are believed to be SpaceX employees. On Saturday, three current and former SpaceX employees (Bobby Peden, Jordan Buss, and Jenna Petrzelka) were elected unopposed to serve as Starbase’s mayor and two commissioners.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that SpaceX has not provided many details on why it wanted to incorporate this area. The company stated that it already manages roads, utilities, and education and health services, and also plans to transfer authority from the county to the new city government to close the nearby Boca Chica beach and state park for launches.

While Musk recently announced he would reduce his role at the controversial Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “one or two days” a week, last year he announced he would move SpaceX’s headquarters from El Segundo, California, to the Starbase facility in Texas.

At the time, Musk said he was “tired of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts to get in and out of the building” and that the “final straw” was a bill in California prohibiting schools from disclosing students’ sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent.

Following last night’s elections, a new X account representing the town shared the message, “Becoming a city will help us continue to build the best possible community for the men and women building the future of humanity’s place in space.”

Turning the 1.45 square mile (approximately 3.75 square kilometers) area in South Texas, which currently contains little more than SpaceX launch pads, rocket assembly facilities, and employee housing, into a city will give Musk’s company a more direct say in local decision-making processes.

As municipal leaders, SpaceX executives can generate revenue through taxes and acquire land through eminent domain, while also encouraging employee housing construction by relaxing zoning rules.

More importantly for SpaceX’s operations, the municipality will be able to close the local public beach for weekday launches, which currently requires permission from county officials.

On the other hand, many residents of the nearby city of Brownsville are concerned that SpaceX wants to deprive them of an important destination where they can enjoy the waves and the sun. Additionally, rising housing prices due to the influx of SpaceX employees are also causing general dissatisfaction.

However, county officials largely support the company’s plans due to SpaceX’s impact on the local economy. The company states that over 3,400 jobs have been created in the area.

Moreover, Starbase will not be the first example. While a population center so directly controlled by a company is unusual in 21st-century America, there are many historical examples. For example, the city of Gary in Indiana was founded in 1906 as a US Steel company town.