Elon Musk’s Space City

With just over 500 residents — most of them SpaceX employees — Starbase officially became a city following an internal vote: 212 in favor, 6 opposed. Located in southern Texas, just miles from the Mexican border, the new municipality now manages its own services and permits, including beach and road closures during launch operations.

Elon Musk celebrated the decision on social media, consolidating his vision of a launch facility transformed into a city, with ambitions that extend to space tourism and missions to Mars. Bobby Peden, a SpaceX manager, was elected as its first mayor.

Not everyone is convinced. Residents of Brownsville and environmental activists fear tighter restrictions on public access and an accelerating ecological footprint. Protests and vandalism targeting symbols of the project have already been recorded.

Starbase is now the youngest city in the United States — and one of its most contested.