Musk received his company – the official city of Starbase

It is official: Spacex has its own company on the southern end of Texas, despite fears that it will expand the company’s control over the region.

Residents who live near the Spacex launch site, most of them company employees, Voice in favor of converting Starbase into his own city. It was a comprehensive victory for Spacex, as it was 212 votes in favor of the missile city and six against, according to the Cameron County Elections Administration.

Elon Musk, the founder of Spacex, Elon Musk has long dreamed of converting Starbase into his own city, and the billionaire celebrated X by Advertisement“Now, it’s official.” Musk For the first time the idea of ​​the city of Star is a base in 2021The company has since expanded its presence with housing and other facilities.

A report issued by the Treviño office said in June that more than 3400 employees and contractors from Spacex have set up a store on the base in the past few years. Earlier last year, also spacex Plans announced To open a shopping center and a restaurant worth $ 15 million.

In December 2024, More than 70 residents of the province presented a petition To request an election regarding the decision to make Starbase municipality. However, most population is believed to be Spacex employees, According to To the seam obtained by the AP.

The city extends over about 1.6 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) and is home to approximately 500 residents, according to L. BBC. Spacex started buying land in the region in 2012, when the company was almost influential as it is today.

Starbase will have the mayor, Bobby Bidin, Vice President of Spacex, and commissioners. It was appointed as a C -City, a municipality of less than 5,000 population.

The launches of the SpaceX missile were already turbulent to the local community, and the construction of Starbase as a city may increase the company’s municipal power and allow it to bypass the regulatory red tape designed to protect its surrounding environment.

In July 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation of American Birds, and other memorization groups A lawsuit was filed against the Federal Aviation AdministrationBased on the pretext that she had rushed Spacex grace not allowed The process without adequate environmental review requirements or reduction. Spacex also faces fines of about $ 150,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency by claiming illegal pollutants in a waterway in Texas without permit.

Spacex can also Control the closure of highways and the beach in the area. Texas lawmakers submitted a draft law on March 14 that grants SpaceX control to close roads and beach for their missile activities. Although the draft law, presented by two Republican Senate members, does not mention Spacex by name, it refers to provinces with the space address and reaching the beach “on the border with the Gulf of Mexico or the borders of the tide water.”

Local officials generally enjoy Spacex to generate jobs in the region and attract spectators to launch missiles, but the company’s investment in South Texas may come at a price.