STARBASE, Texas, July 17 — 2,100. That is the figure that matters: the number of full-time employees working at SpaceX’s Starbase facility by late 2023, a number that has almost certainly grown since the site became an incorporated city in May 2025. The bottom line: what began as a remote patch of land near Boca Chica Beach on the Gulf Coast has transformed into the world’s only privately owned orbital launch site dedicated to a single rocket system — Starship.
Investors will note the sheer scale of the bet SpaceX has placed on this location. By the numbers, the development timeline is striking.
SpaceX started looking for a private launch site between 2012 and 2014, weighing seven potential locations. The company purchased roughly 41 acres and leased another 57 acres by July 2014. The Federal Aviation Administration conducted an extensive environmental assessment before SpaceX formally selected the Brownsville, Texas location in August 2014.
A groundbreaking ceremony followed in September 2014. Soil preparation began in October 2015.
The first tracking antenna went up in August 2016. The first propellant tank arrived in July 2018.
From Falcon to Starship
The site was originally intended for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. That changed in early 2018, when SpaceX announced the facility would be used exclusively for Starship. Construction ramped up sharply in late 2018.
The first 9-meter-diameter prototype — named Starhopper — was tested and flown between March and August 2019. Through 2021, additional prototypes were built for higher-altitude tests.
The first flight test of Starship in 2023 made Starbase SpaceX’s fourth orbital-class launch facility, following three sites the company leases from the U.S. government. CEO Elon Musk indicated as early as 2014 that he expected commercial and private astronauts to depart from South Texas, eventually launching spacecraft to Mars from the site.
Legal and political hurdles
Development has not been without opposition. Environmental groups have filed lawsuits concerned about impacts on species including the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and nearby wildlife habitats. The site sits adjacent to South Padre Island, along Texas State Highway 4, near the Gulf of Mexico.
On December 12, 2024, SpaceX filed a request to incorporate the area as a new city named Starbase. Cameron County judge Eddie Treviño ordered an election on the petition for May 3, 2025.
Voters approved incorporation on that date, making Starbase the first new city in Cameron County since Los Indios in 1995.
What to watch next
The site now serves as both the main testing and production location for Starship launch vehicles and as the headquarters of SpaceX. With city status secured and a workforce that topped 2,100 two years ago, the question for investors and regulators alike is whether the pace of development — and the legal challenges — will accelerate or slow as Starbase matures from industrial complex into a functioning municipality.
