Billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk has often exulted his dream of colonizing the Red Planet with 1 million people.
But before Musk gets his Martian city, he'll have practice with one right here on Earth — that is, if all goes according to his launch company's plans. In December, SpaceX submitted a petition to turn the coastal Texas village, where the Starship factory and space port operate, into an incorporated city. Like the rocket complex, it would be named Starbase.
The proposal reached a pivotal milestone this week. After reviewing the petition for satisfying state requirements, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. set a date for a local vote to decide whether Starbase gets municipal status. That election, to be held on May 3, appears to be a foregone conclusion. Nearly all of the voters living within the roughly 1.5 square-mile area are SpaceX employees and family members, living in company-owned houses. Out of 247 lots in the proposed city limits, only 10 are not owned by SpaceX, according to documents.
"Starbase, Texas, will soon be an official new city," Musk said on X, the social platform once called Twitter, which he also owns.
Surrounding residents are wary of what such a change could mean for them. Environmental activists are concerned about unchecked development, and people who live in nearby Brownsville, Texas, worry they'll lose public beach access. Furthermore, there's an air of mystery to the effort, with many wondering why the company feels the need to go this route.
In a letter with the petition, Kathy Lueders, Starbase's general manager, said the company needs the area to have its own government in order to grow. SpaceX has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure and generated hundreds of millions in income and taxes for local businesses and government, she said.
Through contracts, the company already provides several community services, such as road management, utilities, school provisions, and medical care. Lueders insisted that municipal status won't interfere with the "extensive list of environmental mitigations" SpaceX already has in place.
"Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live, for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity's future in space," she wrote.
The proposed city sits on the southern edge of Texas near the U.S.-Mexican border. In July 2024, Musk posted on X that he had reached "the final straw" in California and would be moving SpaceX's headquarters to the Texas rocket complex.
Some have speculated SpaceX could use the municipality to leverage more public money, such as state and federal grants. Or perhaps the company wants less red tape each time it needs to shut down roads, close Boca Chica Beach, and clear nearby boats from the water for a Starship launch test.
Regardless of outside residents' misgivings, their opinions are largely irrelevant. Only people living within the proposed city — not neighbors — can vote. As of Feb. 14, there were just 160 registered voters eligible to cast a ballot, the election administrator Remi Garza told Mashable.
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That's the reality Tino Villarreal Jr., an at-large city commissioner in Brownsville, has tried to emphasize to his constituents.
"This is going to happen," he told The Brownsville Herald. "The vote’s going to go through."
If Starbase becomes a city, it will be run by a mayor and two city commissioners. Included with the petition are three candidate applications for those positions, all seemingly unopposed. No, Musk would not be the mayor of Starbase, but a SpaceX security manager, Gunnar Milburn, is applying for the job.
Election administrator Garza said the upcoming vote will likely enhance participation in the general election. It's the first time officials have been able to provide a polling location in that part of the county.
"Better still is that it will serve not only the residents in the area, but all the voters who work in the area, too," he told Mashable. "We are hopeful we will be able to continue serving them in the years to come during future elections."
One thing is certain: It'll be a whole lot easier to start a city in Texas than about 70 million miles away. After all, the Rio Grande Valley does have breathable air.
