The vote was 173 to 4. On May 3, 2025, the residents of Starbase, Texas, the SpaceX company town on the Gulf Coast near Brownsville, voted to incorporate as a city, and Elon Musk celebrated on X within hours of certification: “Starbase, Texas Is now a real city!”
The margin surprised nobody who read the voter roll. SpaceX employees made up over 60% of the 283 registered voters, and the company had been buying property around its launch site since 2021, controlling roughly 90% of local real estate by the time ballots were cast. Texas law forced the election once 10% of residents signed a petition, and Cameron County officials, with no legal way to stop it, certified the result within 48 hours after polls closed.
A company town with a budget
What the vote created is a municipal government staffed largely by the company’s own people. Bobby Peden, a 12-year SpaceX veteran, became mayor, and the two commissioners, Jenna Petrzelka and Jordan Buss, also have company ties. The city’s first budget, approved in September 2025, runs about $4.2 million, funded largely by property taxes on SpaceX land and facilities.
“We’re witnessing the birth of a 21st-century company town, but with modern dynamics and expectations”, said Dr. Elena Vasquez, a University of Texas professor of urban planning.
The new city took over road maintenance, water systems and other infrastructure SpaceX had run through agreements with the county. County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr., who received the company’s original petition in December 2024, confirmed it was Cameron County’s first new city in three decades. “While we wish them success, we’ll be monitoring this transition carefully to ensure all residents’ needs are properly addressed,” he said.
The beach fight
The friction is Boca Chica Beach. It was shut for more than 600 hours during 2025 for tests and launches, and the Texas Legislature handed the new city the power to shut it during launch operations, authority previously held by the county. Environmental groups and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe have active lawsuits under the Texas Open Beaches Act and federal rules.
“There’s legitimate concern about public access to natural resources,” said Sierra Rodriguez of the Coastal Conservation Coalition. “While we understand the safety requirements for launches, these beaches belong to all Texans.”
Why SpaceX wanted it
For the company, the move exists to serve the Starship program. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved at least 25 test launches for 2026, and the company’s long-term target runs to 300 orbital launches a year. SpaceX casts the city as a way to “streamline the development of a world-class residential area”, and it is building out neighborhoods for a workforce that passed 3,000 people on site by late 2025, with more than 1,200 residents and contractors living in the city itself and plans for as many as 10,000 residents by 2030.
A company that once clashed with county commissioners over permits and road use now runs the jurisdiction that issues them. The beaches, the budget and the launch cadence all answer to City Hall, and City Hall answers, for now, to SpaceX.
Sources
- Starbase, Texas Becomes Official City as SpaceX Corporate Municipality Wins Incorporation Vote – Gear Musk
- Starbase Becomes Texas’ Newest City Amid SpaceX Ambitious Expansion in the Lone Star State – Starbase Observer
