Houston: With voters approving Starbase as a new city, Elon Musk‘s desire of gaining town standing for his SpaceX spaceport in the southern US state of Texas had come true on Saturday.
The goal of the ballot, which is likely to elect a top SpaceX representative as governor of the new settlement, is in doubt.
The majority of the 283 eligible voters are Tesla employees who work at the Boca Chica Bay bordering Mexico or have links to the organization whose billionaire captain has long desired a mortal mission to Mars.
The majority of ballots have already been cast in advance of the Saturday, 7:00 pm ( 0100 GMT ) deadline.
Although Remi Garza, the 53-year-old man from South Africa, was registered to vote when the first ballot period ended on April 29, Musk, the 53-year-old man, was not registered to put his ballot, according to Cameron County Elections.
According to official documents, close to 500 individuals reside on property that is mostly owned by SpaceX or its employees around the bottom in Cameron County.
The change may help Starbase to control building permits and avoid additional governmental issues while collecting taxes and writing local laws.
Musk is expected to step down as the unofficial head of US President Donald Trump’s” Department of Government Efficiency” and instead concentrate more on Tesla, a troubled car company, at a difficult time.
A municipal election will be held on Saturday, but Bobby Peden, SpaceX’s vice chairman of testing and start, is the only candidate on the ballot, according to Linked In.
The Texas center was established in 2019 and serves as a crucial testing location for the agency’s rocket launches.
Not everyone is optimistic about the possibility of a SpaceX area.
Bekah Hinojosa, the South Texas Environmental Justice Network’s co-founder, expressed concern for the climate impact and warned of “more economic death.”
She told AFP,” They would try to do more illegal dumping, they would build up their hazardous rocket operations, cause more tectonic activity, shake our homes, and destroy more of the wildlife habitat in the area,” adding that they would try to do so.
Economic issues
When Musk visited the site four years ago, he himself made the suggestion that the title Starbase be used in a social media post.
Next, in December, Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of SpaceX, requested permission to declare the site as a capital.
Lueders argued in her letter that SpaceX already had the necessary infrastructure in place, including roads, schools, and health maintenance.
Lueders vowed that SpaceX’s efforts to reduce the facility’s environmental impact would not be undermined by the construction of the new city.
An AFP request for comment was never received by SpaceX.
The airport has a problem with exposure to Boca Chica Beach, and Trump has changed its name to the Gulf of Mexico.
A bill that would have given coastal towns with spaceports control over beach entry was rejected by a Texas House State Affairs commission this week by Republican politicians.
The activist, Hinojosa, claimed SpaceX has had limited access to Boca Chica Beach for many years and that the vote may end all of it’s residents ‘ enjoyment of the beach.
A Native American tribe’s ancestors in the area have even filed a complaint with the Texas Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation.
The Environmental Protection Agency and Texas-based Environmental Protection Agency discovered SpaceX to be responsible for numerous spills and substances entering Texas lakes in 2024.
Musk reportedly said on social press that in response to reports that its rockets had damaged exotic bird nests:” To make up for this horrible murder, I will refrain from having egg for a week.”
