- Elon Musk is trying to create a city called Starbase at SpaceX’s launch facility in Texas.
- Musk wrote on Twitter that the city would be “much bigger” than the village of Boca Chica, where SpaceX is developing its Starship rocket.
- SpaceX approached the judge’s office in Cameron County, Texas with its plan, the office confirmed.
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Elon Musk is trying to form a new city called Starbase at SpaceX’s launch facility in Texas.
Musk shared the news Tuesday on Twitter: “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas,” he wrote.
SpaceX’s Texas facility is located in Boca Chica Village – a city with no legal personality in the southern tip of the state, near Brownsville. The company has been developing its Starship rocket and testing prototypes there since 2014. But Musk said the city of Starbase would cover “a much larger area” than the village.
The judge’s office in Cameron County, where Boca Chica is located, confirmed Musk’s plans to create a city in a statement to Insider.
“In the past few days, Cameron County has been officially approached by SpaceX regarding Elon Musk’s interest in incorporating the village of Boca Chica into the city of Starbase, Texas. Earlier today, the Cameron County Commissioners’ Court was informed about the SpaceX effort, “the statement said.
No Starbase city exists yet, however. Local authorities warned that Musk would need to make a formal request before the incorporation process could begin.
“If SpaceX and Elon Musk want to go that route, they must comply with all state incorporation statutes,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said in a statement to Insider. “Cameron County will process all appropriate petitions in accordance with applicable law.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to Insider’s request to comment on its plans.
The company is creating its colossal new steel launch system, called Starship-Super Heavy, to one day send manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, wants the vehicle to be 394 feet tall (120 meters) and to be fully and quickly reusable. The system could also transport people between points on Earth at hyper-fast speeds.
Boca Chica, where SpaceX is now launching Starship prototypes on test flights, does not have a public water system – although it does have electricity.
A preliminary document released by the FAA, shared with Insider in January, revealed that SpaceX may also be planning to drill “up to five natural gas wells” and build gas-fired power plants at its Boca Chica facility.