The new mission of SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, will not be about space; but at the same time it cannot be said to be any less ambitious than its predecessors. In fact, the richest man in the world plans to turn the company’s operating site, Starbase, into a new Texas city.
On Thursday, the company sent a letter to state officials, asking them to hold an election that could lead to the creation of an officially incorporated city. The area on which Starbase is located is in the vicinity of Boca Chica, in south Texas, on the border with Mexico.
“To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community. That is why we are requesting that Cameron County call an election to enable the incorporation of Starbase as the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley,” Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of Starbase, wrote in a letter to the county.
This is not the first time Musk has thought of such a project. Back in 2021, in fact, the world’s richest man wrote on X, the social network he owns, “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas.” However, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr, the county’s highest elected official, said this is the first time the company has officially submitted a written petition.
“Our legal and elections administration will review the petition, see whether or not it complied with all of the statutory requirements and then we’ll go from there,” Treviño added.
At least 3,400 people currently work at the Boca Chica base of operations, according to data reported over the past year.
Of course, not everyone has appreciated SpaceX’s incredible expansion in the area. Earlier this year, for example, an association called Save RGV sued the company for alleged environmental violations and the discharge of polluted water into the nearby bay.
SpaceX responded that a state review found no environmental hazards, calling the lawsuit “frivolous.”
