Elon Musk Now Has His Own Legally Recognized City in Texas: Starbase
The tycoon did it again. Over the weekend, he secured Starbase recognition as a city in the state of Texas, with its own authorities and regulations.
While some men dream of having a street named after them, Elon Musk has just founded his own city. It’s called Starbase, and since last weekend, it’s officially recognized as a city by the state of Texas. The mogul celebrated the news on his social media platform X: “Starbase, Texas is now a real city!”
Now, it is official! https://t.co/98XWq6Bt4f
— gorklon rust (@elonmusk) May 5, 2025
It’s not just any city. It is essentially an urban enclave developed around SpaceX’s operations, Musk’s aerospace company.
Until now, the Boca Chica community, where SpaceX’s facilities were located, was under the authority of Cameron County, which managed permits, roads, and services.
With the Saturday vote, Boca Chica became the city of Starbase, granting it autonomy to make its own local decisions. Although it remains within the county, it now has its own municipal government, largely controlled by SpaceX.
The measure was approved by a large majority: 212 votes in favor and only 6 against. Of the 283 eligible voters, more than three-fifths were company employees. Only a few homes — fewer than a dozen — are not directly or indirectly associated with the company.
And who will be the mayor of this new municipality? The election winner was Bobby Peden, who, logically, is SpaceX’s vice president. He will serve as the first mayor of Starbase, in an election where all positions — including municipal commissioners — were filled by company employees. Thus, the local government starts as another extension of Musk’s ecosystem.
SpaceX Starbase is mind blowing
— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) May 5, 2025
@Erdayastronaut pic.twitter.com/GjJ1MLHTz6
The new city spans about 2.8 square kilometers and includes an assembly plant, a test bank, a launch tower over 146 meters tall, and the facilities where the Starship prototypes — the rocket Musk plans to use to conquer Mars — are built.
At the entrance to Starbase, a statue of Elon Musk greets visitors as though he’s the founder of a futuristic colony. The monument, accompanied by a mural with the phrase "Ad Astra" (“to the stars”), reinforces the almost mythical atmosphere surrounding the entrepreneur in his custom-built city.
In addition to homes and businesses, the city houses Ad Astra, an experimental school founded by Musk and initially aimed at the children of his employees. This reinforces the idea that Starbase is both a technological laboratory and a social experiment.
Since 2012, SpaceX has been acquiring land and expanding its presence in the area with the aim of turning it into one of the world’s first commercial spaceports.
Now, with municipal autonomy, SpaceX will be able to manage infrastructure, public services, and local regulations. “Becoming a city will help us continue building the best possible community for the men and women who are building the future of humanity’s place in space,” announced the new official Starbase account on X.
“Less Bureaucracy, More Launches”
One of the main benefits of this municipalization is control over logistical restrictions. Until now, every launch from Boca Chica required approval from Cameron County to close the main road and restrict access to the public beach and state park. These measures generated numerous protests from environmental activists and local residents.
With the new legal status, SpaceX will be able to establish its own protocols, without relying so much on external approval. For some, this represents efficiency. For others, a red flag.
The project has strong state backing: Texas allocated 15.3 million dollars to facilitate SpaceX’s installation in the region. Since its arrival, the company has created over 3,000 jobs and stimulated the local economy.
But not everything is optimistic: in 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency fined SpaceX for discharging wastewater into wetlands without authorization, and residents accuse the company of pressuring them to sell their properties and close public spaces.
The creation of Starbase raises profound questions: to what extent can a company control a city? Is this a model of efficiency or a form of extreme privatization? And what does it mean for the rest of the world that a company aiming to colonize Mars now controls its own terrestrial territory?
The truth is, Starbase is now real. It has a name, a mayor, residents — almost all with SpaceX credentials — and a mural at its entrance that says Ad Astra, “to the stars.” Exactly where Elon Musk wants to go.