Tech billionaire Elon Musk has a vision: to turn the SpaceX Starbase site near Boca Chica in south Texas into a new city. 

According to an AP report, on December 11, SpaceX sent a letter to local officials requesting steps to make the site an incorporated city. The company said that Starbase residents submitted the petition.

The idea is not completely new. In 2021, Musk posted on social media, “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas,” with no other context or follow-up. Boca Chica is close to the US-Mexico border and is also where Musk said he plans to move SpaceX‘s headquarters from Hawthorne, California, earlier this year.

‘Need to Grow Starbase As A Community’

In the letter to officials, Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of Starbase, wrote, “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. Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live.”

Speaking to AP, Cameron County’s top elected official, Judge Eddie Treviño Junior, noted that despite talks of incorporation in 2021, this was the first time a petition was 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,” he said.

About the Starbase Site

According to Trevino’s data, over 3,500 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at the Texas Starbase site. A 2024 economic impact report showed creation of more than 3,000 jobs at the site.

According to a Bloomberg report, it is the primary location where SpaceX builds, tests, and launches its Starship’s Moon and Mars rockets and associated systems. The report added that a large warehouse dubbed Starfactory has been built to replace the site’s production tents.

SpaceX did not respond to queries, as per the Bloomberg report.

(With inputs from AP and Bloomberg)