Boca Chica, Texas: In a remote coastal patch of south Texas, a unique election is taking place: a vote to turn the unincorporated community of Boca Chica into an official city named Starbase, a bold vision long championed by billionaire Elon Musk. This move could effectively give Musk, through SpaceX, significant influence over a modern-day company town.
The election is being decided by a small population of just over 500 residents, most of whom are SpaceX employees and their families. As a result, the vote is almost guaranteed to pass, granting the new city power to pass ordinances and manage local governance.
While Musk himself won’t hold formal office in Starbase, SpaceX dominates the region and its personnel fill key leadership positions. Bobby Peden, a 36-year-old SpaceX vice president for test and launch operations in Texas, is running unopposed for mayor. Two other unopposed candidates for city commissioner are also SpaceX employees.
Starbase townsite
The townsite is perched near the Mexican border on a bay that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. It features a mix of prefabricated houses, airstreams, palm-lined roads, and quirky landmarks like the Astropub, a SpaceX-only restaurant with a neon ‘Occupy Mars’ sign.
One of the town’s main streets is aptly named ‘Memes Street.’ A massive nine-foot golden bust of Elon Musk, labeled ‘ELON aka Memelord,’ stands prominently, although it was recently vandalized, with foam and fiberglass peeled from its surface.
SpaceX workers argue incorporation will simplify logistics such as road closures during rocket testing. Identical testimonies were submitted by employees at an April legislative hearing, claiming the new city status would help with coordination and local operations.
Despite the expected outcome, the proposal has stirred controversy. The South Texas Environmental Justice Network and other local activists have protested, fearing that incorporation would lead to restricted public access to Boca Chica Beach, a location long used for fishing, swimming, and spiritual practices by the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe.
Activists have launched email campaigns to state legislators and assert that Musk should not have the right to control this public land.
“Boca Chica Beach is meant for the people, not Elon Musk to control,” the group stated, emphasizing that residents have visited the beach for generations.
Musk first floated the idea of Starbase in 2021, predicting a surge in population. Since then, SpaceX has grown increasingly important to his empire, especially as Tesla’s performance declined. The company has secured billions in government contracts and become a central pillar of US space operations.
Musk himself has been relocating his base of operations to Texas, where he owns a $35 million compound in Austin with multiple mansions.
Last year, during his endorsement of Donald Trump’s re-election, he briefly moved to Pennsylvania, then served as a senior adviser in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before stepping down in late April to refocus on his companies.
If incorporation succeeds, Starbase will grant Musk an unprecedented level of control, not officially as mayor or governor, but as the central figure in a town almost entirely run by his company, echoing the company towns of the Gilded Age.
MOST READ | Heartbreaking loss: Trailblazing music icon Jill Sobule dies in fire
