Elon Musk wants to turn SpaceX's Texas 'Starbase' into its own city
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
- SpaceX is petitioning local authorities to incorporate its "Starbase" launch site as a city.
- The Texas facility has been the site of some of SpaceX's most ambitious launches, including the recent Starship rocket catch.
- Elon Musk said Starbase will also be SpaceX's new HQ, after he moved the rocket firm out of California earlier this year.
Elon Musk wants to build a city on Mars — but for now, he may have to make do with one in Texas.
SpaceX has submitted a petition requesting an election on incorporating the company's Starbase launch site as a city, according to a letter sent to local officials on Thursday.
The sprawling rocket facility near Boca Chica, Texas, has been a hub for SpaceX's rocket production since 2014.
Starbase has been the site of some of the company's most high-profile launches, including the recent Starship test flight, which saw SpaceX catch the spacecraft's booster rocket with giant "mechazilla" robot arms.
Musk has been floating the idea of turning the launch site into a city for several years, with SpaceX first approaching officials in Cameron County, Texas, about the plan in 2021.
Holding an election to incorporate Starbase is the next step. In the letter to local officials, Starbase general manager Kathryn Lueders wrote that the goal of the site was to make South Texas "a gateway to Mars."
She said thousands of SpaceX employees work at the launch facility, with several hundred living on-site.
Reposting the letter on X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the "city of Starbase" will also be the site of the company's new headquarters.
Musk announced in July that he would officially move the HQs of SpaceX and his social media site X from California to Texas.
The billionaire said the move was in response to a California law prohibiting rules requiring teachers to notify parents if a child changes their name, pronouns, or gender identity at school.
Musk has also frequently clashed with local regulators. SpaceX sued the California Coastal Commission after members criticized his political views and denied a request to increase the number of launches in the state.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.