Elon Musks Starbase becomes real Texas city after lopsided vote
The South Texas home of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company is now an official city with a galactic name: Starbase.A vote Saturday to formally organize Starbase as a city was approved by a lopsided margin among the small group of voters who live there and are mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX.With all the votes in, the tally was 212 in favor to 6 against, according to results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department.Musk celebrated in a post on his social platform, X, saying it is “now a real city!”Starbase is the facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program that is under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA that hopes to send astronauts back to the moon and someday to Mars.Musk first floated the idea of Starbase in 2021 and approval of the new city was all but certain.Of the 283 eligible voters in the area, most are believed to be Starbase workers.The election victory was personal for Musk.
The billionaire’s popularity has diminished since he became the chain-saw-wielding public face of President Donald Trump’s federal job and spending cuts, and profits at his Tesla car company have plummeted.SpaceX has generally drawn widespread support from local officials for its jobs and investment in the area.But the creation of an official company town has also drawn critics who worry it will expand Musk’s personal control over the area, with potential authority to close a popular beach and state park for launches.Companion efforts to the city vote include bills in the state Legislature to shift that authority from the county to the new town’s mayor and city council.All these measures come as SpaceX is asking federal authorities for permission to increase the number of South Texas launches from five to 25 a year.The city at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border is only about 1.5 square miles, crisscrossed by a few roads and dappled with airstream trailers and modest midcentury homes.SpaceX officials have said ...