Renowned billionaire Elon Musk wants to create a new city in Texas, USA, named ‘Starbase’, from the existing Boca Chica Village.
1. Boca Chica Village
Boca Chica Village is a tiny unincorporated area of Cameron County, not far from Brownsville along the Gulf Coast of Texas near the Mexican border. According to the Texas State Historical Association the village was developed in 1967 by John Caputa, a Chicago radio personality who advertised the area to mainly working-class Polish immigrants. Originally there was a restaurant, hotel, water treatment plant, sewer and electricity service, however a hurricane in 1967 destroyed the restaurant and utility system. Although electricity was restored, water was not and residents still have water delivered by the county.
2. SpaceX facility
The Houston Chronicle reported that Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is building his deep space rocket, developing and launching prototypes of its Starship spacecraft, in Boca Chica, and Musk wants to change the locations’s name and incorporate the village into a city. His company SpaceX has already purchased many of the properties and former residents have moved elsewhere, whilst for those who still live there there is disruption as SpaceX must evacuate residents when testing its Starship spacecraft. SpaceX hopes to one day pair its Starship spacecraft with its Super Heavy rocket in order to launch people from South Texas to Mars.
3. Starbase
Musk tweeted on Tuesday, “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas,” adding, “From thence to Mars, And hence the Stars.” According to Bloomberg, the tweet might not be just an idle idea and was likely in reference to possibly changing the name of Boca Chica to Starbase. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino told Bloomberg that a SpaceX representative apparently made a “casual inquiry” on how to incorporate Boca Chica into a new town and rename it. Trevino stated, “Sending a tweet doesn’t make it so. They have a lot of hoops and hurdles to go through before they can make it so”, adding, “I think they may be getting a little ahead of themselves.”
From thence to Mars,
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2021
And hence the Stars.
In a statement to Insider, Trevino added, “If SpaceX and Elon Musk would like to pursue down this path, they must abide by all state incorporation statutes”. He stated, “Cameron County will process any appropriate petitions in conformity with applicable law.” Insider reported that the proposed town of Starbase would include an area that’s actually larger than the town of Boca Chica. Musk already announced his relocating to Texas state back in December, and he is building his next Tesla factory near East Austin, in addition to his existing a SpaceX facility in Boca Chica.
