Elon Musk's SpaceX hopes to incorporate Starbase, Texas
CAMERON COUNTY, Texas - Elon Musk's company SpaceX is looking to make Starbase, Texas, the home of its starship development and production facility, an official town.
Starbase is currently an unincorporated community within Cameron County, in the Rio Grande Valley.
The company says in order to fulfill its mission to travel to Mars they will need to be incorporated.
"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," Starbase general manager Kathryn Lueders said in a letter to Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino.
To make Starbase official, Trevino must order a special election to incorporate the community as a Type-C Municipality. Registered voters in the area must approve the change.
According to Lueders, incorporating Starbase will streamline the process to make Starbase a "world-class place to live" and enable the Starship program to "fundamentally alter humanity’s access to space."
(Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Elon Musk chose to move the SpaceX headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Starbase earlier this year. Musk announced the move after California passed a law that blocks schools from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender.
Now, Lueders said that SpaceX is investing billions in infrastructure in Cameron County and generating hundreds of millions in income and taxes for local businesses and government, "all with the goal of making South Texas the gateway to Mars."
In her letter to Trevino, Lueders called Starbase a one-of-a-kind location for SpaceX’s future.
"Starbase is a one-of-a-kind location for manufacturing, testing, and launching the most advanced rocket and spaceships ever conceived – a fully and rapidly reusable system that paves the way for humanity’s return to the Moon and eventual travel to Mars," she said. "We look forward to continuing its transformation into a world-class hub for the men and women working to make life multiplanetary."
Judge Trevino says the county will review SpaceX's petition. If it is in compliance with the requirements for incorporation, then a special election will be called.