Elon Musk seeks to grow SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas into an autonomous, recognized city. Musk unveiled this groundwork for his urban development on the 12th of December via his social media platform X. Claiming, ‘From now on, SpaceX HQ will be situated in Starbase, Texas’, though what has been tendered is simply an appeal for a local election, essential for the establishment of a fresh township situated near the Mexican border and Boca Chica Beach.
Presently, SpaceX leverages the Starbase site as a key launch pad for their grand Starship undertaking, with a bold aspiration of fabricating the most massive spacecraft known to man, designed to frequently shuttle humans between Earth, the Moon, and Mars. So far, the prototype versions of Starship have taken flight six times, where four of the launches reached partial or full success, whereas the remaining two ended in failures.
Among the recent launch achievements is the landing and subsequent recovery of the so-called Super Heavy first stage booster of the spacecraft, a feat accomplished once with the assistance of the launch tower’s large ‘chopstick’-like grippers. As noted in the letter from SpaceX, ‘To accommodate the growth of the workforce needed for quick Starship development and construction, we need to cultivate Starbase as a community.’
The motive to convert Starbase into an incorporated city aims to accelerate the process of building the necessary infrastructures to transform the area into a global destination—a place that current residents as well as prospective SpaceX employees would find appealing to call home. SpaceX dialled attention to its existent agreement with Cameron County that mandates overseeing ‘several civil functions’ at the remote site, like road upkeep, utility maintenance, providing schooling and healthcare for its community.
In light of its ambition to establish the City of Starbase, SpaceX believes that this would enable some of these obligations to be shifted to ‘a more appropriate public body’. This audacious initiative to create a city in predominantly untouched territory marks yet another move in Musk’s strategy to reposition his numerous enterprises from California to Texas.
Musk has had a long-standing theme of dissatisfaction towards California, often criticizing its bureaucratic hurdles, regulatory baggage, labor rules, and hefty taxes, alleging that these factors have put roadblocks in the path of his companies’ objectives. In response, Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle giant, made the move from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas in 2021.
Earlier this year, Musk expressed his displeasure with a California regulation aimed at safeguarding the privacy of transgender minors, terming it as ‘the final straw’. This, along with other factors, led to his decision to migrate both SpaceX’s headquarters to Texas.
In other related news from 2023, The Wall Street Journal shared that Musk has plans underway to forge his own ‘Texas idyll along the Colorado River’—a plan referred to as Snailbrook. This proposed utopia is intended for SpaceX and The Boring Company’s workforce, the latter being Musk’s venture into underground transportation infrastructures.
Cameron County’s highest-ranking official, Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., has affirmed that the county commissioners will be inspecting SpaceX’s petition. Their responsibility would be to ensure that all legal preconditions are met before making further decisions. SpaceX’s endeavor aims to proceed without affecting its commitment to environmental stewardship, as highlighted in its recent filing.
‘Incorporating Starbase will in no way dilute SpaceX’s commitment to uphold scientific principles when it comes to taking care of the environment,’ the company stated. ‘We will persist in our efforts to contribute positively to the local area by investing in public works, conserving the local flora and fauna and making donations to organizations engaged in environmental advocacy.’
However, the SpaceX initiative, specifically the Starbase facility, has been subject to growing scrutiny and criticism from Texas residents, conservationists, and Indigenous communities. This is primarily due to alleged instances of environmental violation.
These critiques encompass allegations of risk posed to protected wildlife and human inhabitants as well as recurring violations of the EPA’s Clean Water Act over an extended period. Despite these controversies, SpaceX continues to pioneer innovative steps towards achieving its ambitious space travel and exploration goals.