2024-12-13 12:31:44 :
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has a vision: turning the SpaceX Starbase site near Boca Chica in South Texas into a new city. On Dec. 11, SpaceX sent a letter to local officials asking for steps to incorporate the site into the city, the Associated Press reported. Starbase residents submitted the petition, the company said.
This idea is not entirely new. In 2021, Musk posted on social media “Creating Starbase City, Texas” with no additional context or follow-up content. Boca Chica is close to the U.S.-Mexico border and is where Musk said earlier this year he planned to move SpaceX’s headquarters from Hawthorne, California.
“Starbase needs to be developed as a community”
“To continue to grow the workforce needed to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” Starbase general manager Kathryn Lueders wrote in a letter to officials. “That’s why we Call for Cameron County to hold an election to make Starbase the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley. The incorporation of Starbase will streamline the process needed to build the necessary amenities to make this area a world-class place to live.”
Judge Eddie Trevino Junior, Cameron County’s top elected official, noted in an interview with The Associated Press that despite merger talks in 2021, this is the first time a formal filing has taken place. Petition. “Our legal and election management departments will review the petition to see if it meets all statutory requirements and then we will go from there,” he said.
About the Starbase website
More than 3,500 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at Starbase, Texas, according to Trevino. The 2024 Economic Impact Report shows the plant created more than 3,000 jobs.
According to Bloomberg, this is the main location where SpaceX builds, tests and launches its Starship moon and Mars rockets and related systems. The report added that a large warehouse called “Starfactory” has been built to replace the production tents at the site.
SpaceX did not respond to inquiries, Bloomberg reported.
(With inputs from The Associated Press and Bloomberg)
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