Elon Musk's SpaceX launch site approved as new Texas city

Starbase, Texas, the home of Elon Musk's SpaceX, will officially become a city in the Lone Star State.

Results from Cameron County show voters, many of whom are SpaceX employees, supported incorporating the area and making it a Type C municipality.

Unofficial results from Cameron County show that a measure to incorporate Starbase was passed by a vote of 212-6.

Starbase officials wrote to local leaders in 2024 with a request to get the incorporation vote on the ballot, saying they need the ability to grow Starbase as a community.

The company says it already manages roads and utilities in the area.

SpaceX officials have told leaders that giving the city the authority to close a beach in the area would streamline launch operations.

Many launches, tests and the moving of equipment require the company to close local roadways and access to Boca Chica State Park and Boca Chica Beach.

Voters also decided on a mayor and two city commissioners.

A LinkedIn account for Bobby Pedren, the only candidate on the ballot for mayor, shows he is an employee of SpaceX.

Musk celebrated in a post on his social platform X, saying it is "now a real city!"

"Becoming a city will help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity's place in space," said a post from Starbase on X.

Critics have raised concerns about Musk's control over the area.

They argue that the ability to close the beach should remain part of the county government, which supports a larger population that uses the beach and park.

Starbase is the home of SpaceX's starship development and production facility. The company is under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA, which hopes to send astronauts back to the moon and someday to Mars.

It is currently an unincorporated community within Cameron County, in the Rio Grande Valley, roughly 25 miles east of Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas.

There are fewer than 500 people living in the community, which includes about 120 children.

SpaceX is asking federal authorities for permission to increase the number of launches from the South Texas site from five to 25 a year.

Elon Musk chose to move the SpaceX headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Starbase in 2024. Musk announced the move after California passed a law that blocks schools from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender.