SpaceX launch site has just turned into a city ‘Starbase’. 10 things to know

The election on Saturday has formalized Elon Musk’s promised dream of turning SpaceX’s launch site into an official city. The South Texas home of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company is now an official city called ‘Starbase’. Voters overwhelmingly backed turning his Starbase into a new municipality.(Pic credit: AP)

A small group of voters, primarily consisting of SpaceX employees who live in the area, casted their votes to incorporate a section of land called Boca Chica village into a new municipality named Starbase. (Pic credit: AP)

The establishment of a new municipality would lead to the formation of a local government consisting of a mayor and two commissioners, who would hold authority over planning, taxation, and various other local matters. (Pic credit: AP)

Starbase would act as a facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program that is under contract with the department of defense and Nasa.SpaceX officials have told lawmakers that allowing the city to close the beach would facilitate launch operations. (Pic credit: AP)

SpaceX’s Texas base was launched in the year 2019 as a key testing site for the company's rocket launches. (Pic credit: AP)

Musk first floated the idea of changing the nature of this testing site into a city called ‘Starbase’ in 2021. (Pic credit: AP)

Official documents show that nearly 500 people live around the base in Cameron County, on land mostly owned by SpaceX or its employees. (Pic credit: AP)

The city at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border is only about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers), crisscrossed by a few roads and midcentury homes. (Pic credit: AP)

According to Cameron County election officials, 173 of the 177 votes counted by 7 pm Saturday (local time) supported the creation of the new city. (Pic credit: AP)

But some nearby residents and members of the indigenous tribe in the area have opposed the measure and accused the company of harming the local environment. In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency, along with Texas officials, determined that SpaceX was accountable for frequent spills and the discharge of pollutants into waterways in Texas. (Pic credit: AP)