On May 3, SpaceX employees will vote to create the Starbase municipality, a settlement near Elon Musk’s spaceport. And although they lack 4,500 residents to establish a charter, the existing funding and planning are already enough for autonomy. Why does Musk need his own town? Reprint of the Bloomberg article
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In southern Texas, Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has been transforming a desolate stretch of land near Boca Chica into a hub for engineering innovation for more than a decade. But Musk has ambitious plans for the area. Its residents, most of whom are SpaceX employees, will vote on May 3 to officially recognize the settlement as a separate municipality, Starbase.
This vote is taking place without any real opposition, with candidates for mayor and city commissioners working for SpaceX. The election will pave the way for a new kind of “company city” – one where a single private player controls not only the economy but also municipal regulations.
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Elon Musk already owns a house on Memev Street, and the territory of his future city so far reaches 3.76 km² . although may grow up soon.
City around a rocket
Starbase is an area near the SpaceX launch site that is home to about 500 people. More than 3,100 other workers commute here daily from nearby Brownsville. The landscape is like something out of a science fiction movie: two giant launch towers, a fleet of Airstream camper vans, Teslas on the side of the road, and dozens of houses painted in SpaceX colors.
Until 2018, the area was a regular coastal settlement, until SpaceX began building and testing Starship, a rocket for flights to Mars. Within a few years, the neighboring village near the site, Boca Chica, has transformed into a high-tech city from which to watch the rocket launches.
People watch from their balconies as the SpaceX Starship spacecraft takes off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on November 19, 2024. Photo by Getty Images
American history is littered with examples of such communities, from the textile mills of New England and inventor George Pullman's settlement in Illinois to Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. But Starbase claims to be something more, as the state here becomes an appendage to the corporation.
Musk himself has long outlined this strategy: the head offices of his companies have been moved to Texas, support for local schools and politicians is ongoing, and new education rules are being tested in educational institutions funded by Musk.
SpaceX control over the settlement
The new Starbase government will have limitations if it gains municipal powers after the election. The city cannot develop its own charter – the population must be 5,000. However, the state of Texas gives cities a lot of autonomy. Officials can initiate the creation of a police or fire department. They can open libraries, parks or establish municipal courts.
However, such services require money. Typically, city budgets are filled with sales taxes or property fees. However, the largest owner of real estate in Starbase is SpaceX.
The new government may focus on passing regulations that regulate noise levels, traffic, rules of conduct in public places, or building regulations.
“The smallest city in Texas has more zoning authority than the largest county or even the state,” says Alan Bohorquez, a lawyer specializing in Texas municipal law. “The city can control how the area is developed and how the land is divided into different uses: commercial, industrial, and residential.” However, this will create problems for private landowners within the Starbase.
SpaceX's private security guards already patrol the city and clash with “outsiders.” A few years ago, a Texas prosecutor warned the company after its guards blocked a road. He called it an abuse of authority, but the case never went to court.
In addition to Starbase, SpaceX wants to gain control of Boca Chica Beach, an undeveloped coastal area. To safely launch a rocket, the company’s management needs to close the beach and the surrounding area to visitors each time. SpaceX has to formulate an appeal to the county government, which they would like to avoid . However, the Texas legislature rejected a similar initiative to transfer this authority. The US Federal Aviation Administration continues to regulate approvals for rocket launches and landings.
Starbase is not only an experiment in urban planning. It is also a test of how well a modern state can respond to new forms of power.
