Residents in a small part of southern Texas are voting on whether to turn their neighbourhood into a brand-new city, one that would give Elon Musk&rsquo;s SpaceX something close to its own government. The new city would be called Starbase, and it sits right where SpaceX carries out its rocket launches in Texas.
<h2>What the vote is about?</h2>
The election is being held among a few hundred people living in what is now known as Boca Chica. If passed, the vote would officially create a city government, allowing the area to make its own local rules.
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Most of the people eligible to vote are SpaceX employees and their families, which makes the outcome almost certain. Starbase is expected to be approved.
<h2>How would this benefit Musk?</h2>
By creating Starbase, Musk gains a level of control rarely seen in modern-day business. While he won&rsquo;t technically be in charge, the town would be run almost entirely by SpaceX staff. That means the company, and by extension, Musk&nbsp;would have significant influence over how things are done in the city.
It also gives SpaceX more freedom to manage day-to-day operations, including road closures during rocket launches, without relying as much on outside authorities. According to statements submitted by SpaceX workers, this new setup would improve &ldquo;logistics and coordination&rdquo;.
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<h2>Who&rsquo;s running the town?</h2>
Starbase would be led by people already high up at SpaceX. The candidate for mayor, Bobby Peden, is the vice-president of test and launch operations and has been with the company since 2013. He is running unopposed.
Two others from the company, an engineering manager and a senior director of environmental health and safety, are running for city commissioner roles. Like Peden, both are standing without opposition.
<h2>What does Starbase look like?</h2>
Starbase is a small area near the Mexican border, close to the Gulf of Mexico. It&rsquo;s lined with palm trees, prefabricated homes and shiny airstream trailers. A massive golden bust of Musk, nine feet tall, stands in the middle of it all. A plaque below calls him &ldquo;ELON aka Memelord&rdquo;.
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Not everyone is impressed. Vandals recently damaged the statue, peeling off parts of the foam and fibreglass.
<h2>Local concerns over Starbase</h2>
Although the town is likely to be created, not everyone is happy about it. Locals have raised concerns about rising living costs and reduced beach access during rocket tests. Since SpaceX moved into Cameron County about ten years ago, rents have gone up nearly 15%.
Community organiser Bekah Hinojosa spoke out against the plan, telling Politico, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re claiming they&rsquo;re bringing economic incentives, but the rent is going up, the roads are crumbling.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It is getting harder to live here,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;All this seems to benefit is fancy restaurants with SpaceX clientele.&rdquo;
Hinojosa said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the richest man on the planet using us as a testing ground. Elon Musk is on his way to colonising Mars. First, he&rsquo;s trying to colonise this community.&rdquo;
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<h2>A new kind of company town</h2>
If the vote succeeds, Musk&rsquo;s influence over Starbase will look a lot like the company towns of the Gilded Age, where businesses controlled everything from housing to local laws. Though Musk won&rsquo;t have an official role, his company will effectively run the town.

World: By creating Starbase, Musk gains a level of control rarely seen in modern-day business. While he won’t technically be in charge, the town would be run almost entirely by SpaceX staff.

Residents in a small part of southern Texas are voting on whether to turn their neighbourhood into a brand-new city, one that would give Elon Musk’s SpaceX something close to its own government. The new city would be called Starbase, and it sits right where SpaceX carries out its rocket launches in Texas. What the vote is about? The election is being held among a few hundred people living in what is now known as Boca Chica. If passed, the vote would officially create a city government, allowing the area to make its own local rules. Also read: 'Kissing my a**': Trump mocks 'buddy' Elon Musk after his alleged White House exit Most of the people eligible to vote are SpaceX employees and their families, which makes the outcome almost certain. Starbase is expected to be approved. How would this benefit Musk? By creating Starbase, Musk gains a level of control rarely seen in modern-day business. While he won’t technically be in charge, the town would be run almost entirely by SpaceX staff. That means the company, and by extension, Musk would have significant influence over how things are done in the city. It also gives SpaceX more freedom to manage day-to-day operations, including road closures during rocket launches, without relying as much on outside authorities. According to statements submitted by SpaceX workers, this new setup would improve “logistics and coordination”. Also read: 'Ice cream, Lincoln bedroom, video games: Elon Musk's 100 days in Trump admin amid reports of his White House exit Who’s running the town? Starbase would be led by people already high up at SpaceX. The candidate for mayor, Bobby Peden, is the vice-president of test and launch operations and has been with the company since 2013. He is running unopposed. Two others from the company, an engineering manager and a senior director of environmental health and safety, are running for city commissioner roles. Like Peden, both are standing without opposition. What does Starbase look like? Starbase is a small area near the Mexican border, close to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s lined with palm trees, prefabricated homes and shiny airstream trailers. A massive golden bust of Musk, nine feet tall, stands in the middle of it all. A plaque below calls him “ELON aka Memelord”. Also read: 'Yes...but cut that part': Elon Musk quips when asked if he regrets supporting Donald Trump Not everyone is impressed. Vandals recently damaged the statue, peeling off parts of the foam and fibreglass. Local concerns over Starbase Although the town is likely to be created, not everyone is happy about it. Locals have raised concerns about rising living costs and reduced beach access during rocket tests. Since SpaceX moved into Cameron County about ten years ago, rents have gone up nearly 15%. Community organiser Bekah Hinojosa spoke out against the plan, telling Politico, “They’re claiming they’re bringing economic incentives, but the rent is going up, the roads are crumbling.” “It is getting harder to live here,” she added. “All this seems to benefit is fancy restaurants with SpaceX clientele.” Hinojosa said, “It’s the richest man on the planet using us as a testing ground. Elon Musk is on his way to colonising Mars. First, he’s trying to colonise this community.” Watch: Tesla board searches for a new CEO to replace Musk: WSJ report A new kind of company town If the vote succeeds, Musk’s influence over Starbase will look a lot like the company towns of the Gilded Age, where businesses controlled everything from housing to local laws. Though Musk won’t have an official role, his company will effectively run the town.

‘He’s trying to colonise’: Elon Musk to add his own city, ‘Starbase’, to his empire - Here’s all you need to know

Billionaire Elon Musk's space giant SpaceX would launch a new mission – making its Starbase site a new Texas city, American media reported on Friday (Dec 13). On Thursday, SpaceX sent a letter to local officials requesting an election to turn what it calls Starbase — the South Texas site where SpaceX builds and launches its massive Starship rockets — into an incorporated city.

Billionaire Elon Musk's space giant SpaceX would launch a new mission – making its Starbase site a new Texas city, American media reported on Friday (Dec 13). On Thursday, SpaceX sent a letter to local officials requesting an election to turn what it calls Starbase — the South Texas site where SpaceX builds and launches its massive Starship rockets — into an incorporated city. Residents of the area known as Starbase submitted the petition, SpaceX said. The area is on the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border. 'Need the ability to grow Starbase as a community' In a letter addressed to Cameron County, Starbase's General Manager Kathryn Lueders said, "To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community. That is why we are requesting that Cameron County call an election to enable the incorporation of Starbase as the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley." Also read | SpaceX fails to repeat Starship booster catch, as Trump watches on This is not the first time turning Starbase into its city has been floated. Elon Musk had proposed the idea in 2021 when he wrote a social media post which said, "Creating the city of Starbase, Texas." 'Petition to be reviewed' Speaking to the news agency Associated Press, Cameron County official Eddie Treviño Jr said on Thursday that despite talks of incorporating a Starbase in 2021, this was the first time a petition had been officially filed. “Our legal and elections administration will review the petition, see whether or not it complied with all of the statutory requirements and then we’ll go from there,” Treviño Jr added. (With inputs from agencies)

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‘He’s trying to colonise’: Elon Musk to add his own city, ‘Starbase’, to his empire - Here’s all you need to know

SpaceX launching a new mission- making a starbase site a new Texas city