The residents of the small community that surrounds the Spacex headquarters in Boca Chica, southeast of Texas, have overwhelmingly voted in favor of constituting the city of Starbase. A step that gives Elon Musk’s company an unprecedented level of autonomy to develop the huge Starship rocket.
Only six votes against. As we count in December, Spacex had initiated legal procedures to turn its growing Texan complex into an independent municipality. The movement followed Musk’s decision to transfer the official Head of California to Texas, in search of a more favorable regulatory and fiscal environment, and with the explicit support of the state governor, Greg Abbott. Now, that plan has materialized.
The vote took place on Saturday and resulted in 212 votes in favor and only six against, according to the Cameron County Elections Department. It is not a surprise, taking into account that the vast majority of the approximately 283 eligible voters within the territory of 3.9 square kilometers are employees of Spacex or their relatives.
Who is the new mayor. The city of Starbase will be governed by a municipal commission of three members, composed, as expected, by three people linked to Spacex who presented themselves to the position without opposition.
The mayor is Bobby Peden, current vice president of tests and releases in Texas de Spacex. Jenna Petrzelka, former Starbase Engineering Operations Manager, and Jordan Buss, current Senior Director of Environmental Health and Safety of Spacex, will be the other two councilors.
Why does Spacex need your own city? The key is the control and agility that it gains with change. According to a letter to the authorities signed at the end of 2024 by Kathryn Lueders (General Director of Starbase and former director of NASA manned flights), Starbase acquires greater autonomy to expedite the development of Starship and the colonization of Mars.
With the city status, the Municipal Commission (Spacex controlled) has authority over zoning, construction projects and other aspects of local life. Although it is not a blank check to ignore state or federal regulations, it gives them considerable power to mark their own rhythm. Spacex was already de facto managing some infrastructure, such as the road (whose traffic frequently interrupts for evidence and rocket transfers). And already provided medical care or education (Elon Musk’s Astra Nova school) to employee families.
Starbase has a housing problem. Constituting the city of Starbase, Spacex has eliminated many bureaucratic friction to build the necessary infrastructure to attract and retain talent in its new headquarters. A critical point is housing.
The company had no power to build enough houses for the hundreds of workers who would like to live near Starbase. Currently, some 260 employees live there with their families, almost 500 people. Other 3,100 move from Brownsville and nearby areas. In fact, a recent attempt to build more attached houses was rejected by the county.
A controversial control over the beach. The creation of this “business city” is not exempt from criticism. Ecological groups and local residents have been expressing their concern for the growing control of Elon Musk about the area, especially with regard to access to the popular Beach of Boca Chica and the adjacent state park.
For now, the closure of the road and the beach for the spacex launches and tests required the county authorization. However, there are legislative initiatives in Texas, promoted in parallel to the creation of the city, to transfer that closing authority directly to the Mayor and the City of Starbase. Spacex argues that this would speed up the releases now that they are looking for federal permission to increase the frequency of 5 to 25 per year.
Following the steps of Toyota or Huawei. The creation of Starbase as a city follows a pattern that we have already seen with Toyota City in Japan or the huge residential and R D of Huawei Campus in China. Also in urban projects such as the Sidewalk Toronto neighborhood, promoted by Google in Canada.
For Spacex, having its own city is another step to strengthen its mastery of space releases with Starship, whose ultimate goal is to take humans to Mars. Now, officially starbly on the map, Elon Musk has a little more control over his Texan fief to try to convert that vision into reality, although the controversy and scrutiny, without a doubt, will remain there.
Imagen | SpaceX
In WorldOfSoftware | Leaving California is just the first step: Spacex has started the procedures to create an independent city in Texas
