According to Nicki Minaj, “Starships were meant to fly,” and according to SpaceX, the community of Starbase should officially become a company town. Will Elon Musk be able to change the map of America? If so, this state will be radically transformed. A petition has already been signed to move forward, and now a special election is set to be held soon that will determine the fate of Starbase’s future. The remaining locals have high hopes for things to remain unchanged, but with Musk involved, we are not so sure.
This is how much Starbase has already changed over the years
First, he became what some refer to as the “shadow president,” and now he could become a de facto mayor. The enigma of a human being we’re referring to is none other than Elon Musk. In an unincorporated community within Cameron County, in the Rio Grande Valley, roughly 25 miles east of Brownsville in Texas, lies Starbase in the Boca Chica Village, the home base of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Musk moved SpaceX in 2014, which resulted in nearly all of the locals selling their properties or moving away. Approximately 500 residents remained (including 120 children), and most are company employees with Teslas parked in almost every driveway. Per the Associated Press, only 4% of the land within the proposed new city limits isn’t the property of the company.
70 residents, who are also SpaceX employees, signed and submitted a petition to Cameron County in the state of Texas to request an election that would incorporate Starbase as an official town. According to the company:
“To fulfill its mission to travel to Mars, they will need to be incorporated.”
Some might not want the map of America to change
SpaceX’s relationship with the community has not always been a smooth one. Thousands of employees and contractors are employed at the facility, which has become the main production and testing location for Musk’s Starship rockets. However, very few Texans view them as friendly neighbours.
For the past five years, SpaceX faced bewilderment over beach access, complaints about the immense noise and vibration of rocket launches, as well as lawsuits from locals accusing them of alleged pollution of the nearby bay. A small local nonprofit called the South Texas Environmental Justice Network is hoping to at least get some punches in and is threatening a lawsuit.
“Elon Musk should not govern a town, he’s a slumlord. We’re trying to figure out if this is even legal.” – Bekah Hinojosa, a community organizer from the Rio Grande Valley
This is when this radical change in Texas could happen
The petition indicated that SpaceX’s security manager, Gunnar Milburn, was nominated as the first mayor of Starbase, but his name has since been replaced by SpaceX’s vice president of Texas Test and Launch, Robert Peden. The engineering manager and the senior director of environmental health and safety were nominated to serve as city commissioners.
And Elon Musk will be an unelected overseer, just as he is in President Donald Trump’s administration. The special election is set to be held on May 3, 2025, with early voting starting late April. Should Starbase receive a majority vote in favor of becoming an official town, it would become a Type C municipality, which means it’s less than two square miles with between 200 and 5,000 residents.
SpaceX already manages roads, schools, and utilities that local governments usually maintain. Should the company receive the majority vote for their petition at the upcoming election, we hope they will at least use their power for some good, developing the town and boosting its economy, whilst keeping residents and the environment in mind.