The new city of Starbase covers about 1½ square miles at the southern tip of Texas, a coastal spot nestled against the Mexico border. The area is home to SpaceX headquarters, and it’s where the company builds its boosters and engines and launches its huge Starship rocket on test flights.

A vote Saturday to formally organize Starbase as a city was approved by a lopsided margin among the small group of voters who live there and are mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX. With all the votes in, the tally was 212 in favor to 6 against, according to results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department. Musk celebrated in a post on his social platform, X, saying it is “now a real city!”

Starbase, SpaceX's facility and launch site under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA, aims to send astronauts to the moon and eventually Mars. Elon Musk proposed the idea of Starbase in 2021, and approval for the new city seemed inevitable. Most voters in the area, estimated at 283 eligible, are likely Starbase workers. Musk's election victory was personal, as his public image has diminished recently, and profits at Tesla have dropped. While SpaceX has garnered support for creating jobs and investing locally, critics worry that a company town could increase Musk’s personal control, potentially granting authority to close a popular beach and state park for launches. In addition to the city vote, bills in the state Legislature aim to shift power from the county to the new town’s mayor and city council. SpaceX seeks permission to increase launches in South Texas from five to 25 annually. The city, about 1.5 square miles, is home to a small community of airstream trailers and modest homes. SpaceX has not elaborated on its desire for a company town. “We need the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” wrote Starbase General Manager Kathryn Lueders to local officials in 2024.