McALLEN, Texas — On Wednesday, a Texas county gave the green light for a referendum that SpaceX requested, allowing residents in the vicinity of Elon Musk’s company to decide on the establishment of a new municipality called Starbase.
The election is scheduled for May 3, and only those who reside near the launch site, which is part of an unincorporated section of Cameron County along the U.S.-Mexico border, will be eligible to vote.
In December, over 70 local residents submitted a petition advocating for the election to incorporate Starbase as an official city. The majority of the petitioners are employees of SpaceX, and the community includes more than 100 children, as indicated by documents acquired by media sources.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño announced that the county had evaluated the petition and confirmed that it satisfied the requirements set by the state for the incorporation process to proceed.
“If the election is successful, this will mark the newest municipality established in Cameron County since Los Indios in 1995,” Treviño said in a statement. “We are eager to witness the outcome of this election.”
In response to inquiries, SpaceX referred to a previous statement made in December. Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of Starbase, explained that incorporating the area would facilitate the development of infrastructure and amenities. However, some local environmental advocates have voiced concerns regarding the potential impacts of such development.
SpaceX’s launch facility commenced construction in Texas in 2014. Out of approximately 250 plots within the suggested new city boundaries, only 10 do not belong to SpaceX.
A local impact study released by the county last year revealed that more than 3,400 full-time employees and contractors are based at the Starbase location.
Musk has steadily established a strong business presence in Texas, expanding his ventures throughout the state. After relocating to Texas in 2020, he has either moved or grown several of his companies here, attributing the change to Texas’s favorable business environment.
Tesla’s enormous Gigafactory, covering 10 million square feet and dedicated to producing Cybertrucks, began operations near Austin in 2022 and is also designated as the company’s headquarters.
