Elon Musk can now add “city founder” to his résumé after residents surrounding his SpaceX complex in South Texas voted this weekend to incorporate the area as “Starbase.”
The near-unanimous decision — 212 votes in favor to just 6 against, according to county election data — formalizes SpaceX’s dominance in the remote coastal area it has rapidly reshaped over the past seven years.
SpaceX employees and their families make up virtually all the residents within the roughly 1.5-square-mile zone, which was previously known as Boca Chica.
The city’s first elected officials — all current or former SpaceX staff who ran unopposed — were swept into office on the same ballot.
Becoming a city will help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity’s place in space 🚀💫
— StarbaseTX (@StarbaseTX) May 4, 2025
Bobby Peden ran unopposed for mayor of Starbase, receiving 216 votes.
Peden has worked at SpaceX for over 12 years, and his current title, according to LinkedIn, is “VP – Texas Test & Launch.”
Incorporating as a city moves local controls like zoning rules and building permits away from Cameron County officials and puts them directly in the hands of the new, SpaceX-aligned city commission.
A shortage of housing is causing problems for SpaceX, with hundreds of workers looking to move to the area for the company’s Starship program that one day aims to send a spacecraft to Mars.
SpaceX previously tried to buy out locals near Boca Chica Village, claiming it was “not safe” to live there anymore. While many took the buyout, some stayed.
About 500 people, mostly the families of roughly 260 employees, live on-site.
The vast majority of Starbase’s 3,100-plus workforce commutes daily, many from Brownsville nearby, where there is a nine-foot-tall golden bust of Musk on the road leading into the SpaceX facility.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Despite the near-unanimous vote, the incorporation has been met with resistance from some.
The South Texas Environmental Justice Network activist group has held protests and called on Texas to contact their state representatives to oppose the plans.
“Boca Chica Beach is meant for the people, not Elon Musk to control,” the organization said in a statement on its site. “For generations, residents have visited Boca Chica beach for fishing, swimming, recreation, and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe has spiritual ties to the beach. They should be able to keep access.”
The vote caps a stunning, decadelong transformation of the once-sleepy Boca Chica village.
SpaceX has rapidly terraformed the quiet coastline into a futuristic industrial campus, all geared towards Musk’s goal of reaching Mars.
