Elon Musk's SpaceX has created a new city in Texas
Starbase is home to SpaceX's rocket launch site


The spaceflight company SpaceX has made itself a new home: Residents of Texas' Cameron County voted on May 3 to incorporate Starbase, Texas, a city located near Boca Chica along the Lone Star State's southern border. The city will serve as a "company town" for SpaceX, the brainchild brand of controversial tech mogul and DOGE head Elon Musk. But exactly why SpaceX is making this move remains a bit of a mystery.
What is Starbase, Texas?
It is a "newly incorporated city made up almost exclusively of SpaceX employees and people connected to the company," said NBC News. Only about 300 people who lived inside the proposed boundaries could vote, and they approved its incorporation 212 to 6. The city itself "covers about 1.5 square miles at the southern tip of Texas, a coastal spot nestled against the Mexico border." It is already "home to SpaceX headquarters, and it's where the company builds its boosters and engines and launches its huge Starship rocket on test flights."
The new city itself is quite small, with a population of about 500, according to Bloomberg. It is "crisscrossed by a few roads and dappled with Airstream trailers and modest midcentury homes," said The Associated Press. The incorporation of an official city appears to be largely symbolic, as SpaceX "already manages roads and utilities, as well as 'the provisions of schooling and medical care' for those living on the property."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Why is SpaceX doing this?
The exact reasoning remains unclear, as SpaceX officials "have said little about exactly why they want a company town," said the AP. However, it appears SpaceX feels that the city will assist in ramping up infrastructure for the brand's space launches. Incorporating Starbase will "help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity's place in space," the city's X account said.
The city has "grown alongside Musk's ambitions — chiefly, developing a rocket that can land humans on Mars," said The Wall Street Journal. It has "created thousands of new jobs in South Texas" and will likely move along development of the Starship rocket for Mars testing. But the city itself will also have a "wide set of powers," as Starbase could "create zoning rules, raise revenue and hire staff to carry out town functions."
Still, this could be easier said than done. Whatever the "goals and ambitions of the new city of Starbase are, the first thing they're going to have to look at is what the budget is," Alan Bojorquez, a Texas attorney who works on municipal law, told the Journal. There might be projects beyond just space travel, too, as the controversial Musk tries to buy back some goodwill. SpaceX is "working on a $22 million community building project" in Starbase, according to Yahoo News, and also "reportedly plans to build a school called Ad Astra, named after the one Musk launched for five of his children in 2014."
In order to help with more of the city's infrastructure, there has been "talk of connecting the city to a local water system," said The New York Times, much the same way that SpaceX already manages many of Starbase's other utilities. There are also plans to build a power plant and a "commercial center along with a sushi restaurant near Mr. Musk's house."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
-
Film reviews: The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Cloud
Feature A space-age superhero team mounts a redo and Reality catches up with an online reseller
-
'Grief and condolences are not enough'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Senate confirms Trump loyalist Bove to top court
Speed Read The president's former criminal defense lawyer was narrowly approved to earn a lifetime seat
-
Palantir: The all-seeing tech giant
Feature Palantir's data-mining tools are used by spies and the military. Are they now being turned on Americans?
-
Grok brings to light wider AI antisemitism
In the Spotlight Google and OpenAI are among the other creators who have faced problems
-
What's Linda Yaccarino's legacy? And what's next for X?
Today's Big Question An 'uncertain future' in the age of TikTok
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two years
Speed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on X
Speed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
The god in the machine
Feature An AI model with superhuman intelligence could soon become reality. Should we be worried?
-
Another Starship blast sets back Musk's Mars hopes
Speed Read Nobody was killed in the explosion, which occurred in south Texas
-
Unreal: A quantum leap in AI video
Feature Google's new Veo 3 is making it harder to distinguish between real videos and AI-generated ones