Elon Musk’s Plan For His Own Texas City ‘Starbase’: A Corporate Utopia

Elon Musk is enroute to omnipresence, has world leaders on speed-dial and his Benjamins blanch US lawmakers. One would think, what does the richest man on earth not have? To answer that question, his own company town.

Over the years, Texas has seen an expansion of Musk’s SpaceX, soon after he moved from California citing “woke” reasons. A term Trump allies detest.

He said he will move SpaceX and X out of California if California Governor Gavin Newsom signs a law that bans schools from informing parents if their children use different names or pronouns.

This is the final straw.

Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas. https://t.co/cpWUDgBWFe

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024

“This is the final straw,” Musk said on X. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”

Now, Musk is planning to establish a town in coastal South Texas, and creating a new municipality in Texas requires residents and voter support from a majority. Since July, the SpaceX launch site known as Starbase has already become home to many employees.

Per NYT, earlier this month, the employees took a big step towards making Starbase a town and started taking signatures and filing a petition to hold an election.

The ‘Stabase community’ boasts about 500 inhabitants, including around 219 primary residents and 100 children. According to the petition, the town would be slightly larger than Central Park, covering 1.5 square miles and almost all residents are renters and work for SpaceX.

“If you create your own city, and it’s a relatively small area now, you have kind of control over that area,” Robert Greer, an associate professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University told AP.

“Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live – for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity’s future in space,” Kathryn Lueders, Starbase’s general manager, stated in a letter to the county.

While SpaxeX rapidly expands in the area, some locals have pushed back. Earlier this year, a group called Save RGV sued SpaceX over allegations of environmental violations and dumping polluted water into the nearby bay.

If the proposed city receives authorisation, the SpaceX security manager, Gunnar Milburn, is expected to be the inaugural mayor.