Texas will appear in a new city called Starbase (Starbase), formed on the basis of SpaceX, owned by a billionaire Ilon Mask. The decision to create a municipality was made by the residents themselves - most of whom work in SpaceX - during the vote, which ended with a convincing victory for supporters of the new formation: 212 votes for 6 "Against".
The new settlement is located on the territory of Boca-Chika-the former sparse-populated village in the south of Texas, where the company Maska began construction of a space complex in 2014. Now this territory has become one of the key points of SpaceX, which houses 147-meter ladder and staircase towers, production facilities, testing platform and all the necessary infrastructure for launching missiles.
Starbase became the fourth active space of the company and the first to be transformed into a full municipality. More than 200 people live in the new city with an area of about 2 km², and SpaceX staff are also held by management positions. The idea of creating such a settlement has emerged recently, but its roots reached in 2019, when Ilon Musk first voiced his vision of building in the Bock-Chick "City on Mars". Starbeiz was a logical step in the way of realizing this vision.
However, everything is not so unambiguous. Although Starbase has created more than 3,000 jobs and contributed to economic growth in the poor region, there is increasing concern among local residents and ecologists. They are concerned about the environmental impact of SpaceX, in particular on wetland. Several lawsuits against the company on pollution and possible violation of environmental standards have already been filed.
Starbase is a unique example of a symbiosis of private business and urban self -government, as well as another step towards the ambitious purpose of the mask - the conquest of space.
