Texas Border Business
April 25, 2025- Starbase is on the cusp of becoming the nation’s newest municipality. Local voters are casting ballots and deciding whether to incorporate the Starbase community. The voting process, which runs until May 3, 2025, could transform the unincorporated area into a space-focused city.
Starbase is located in Cameron County’s Rio Grande Valley, 25 miles east of Brownsville, Texas. It is home to SpaceX’s Starship manufacturing and launch facility and houses fewer than 300 residents, including approximately 120 children.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk relocated SpaceX’s headquarters from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase in 2024. Musk first proposed the idea of creating a city called Starbase in 2021, publicly stating his interest in building a futuristic, space-oriented town to support SpaceX operations.
The proposed Starbase city would span 1.5 square miles—an area roughly equivalent to the size of New York’s Central Park—and would be designed to support up to 3,500 SpaceX employees. A petition filed earlier this year, signed by at least 10% of the area’s qualified voters, triggered the incorporation election under Texas Local Government Code for a Type C municipality.
According to Teslarati and the Washington Examiner reports, about 90% of the 279 eligible voters are expected to support the incorporation. These estimates are based on public records and reporting, including information obtained by the New York Times through a public information request. Most residents are believed to be SpaceX employees or their family members, which has influenced projections of overwhelming support.
In addition to voting on incorporation, residents will elect the first officials for the city government. Bobby Peden is currently the sole candidate for Mayor of Starbase. Jordan Buss and Jenna Petrzelka are running unopposed for two commissioner positions.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., officially authorized the election after reviewing the incorporation petition. In a statement, Judge Treviño said:
“After careful review of the petition by the Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Elections Administrator and Commissioners County Civil Legal Division, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. signed an order finding satisfactory proof in support of the statutory requirements being met for the petition for incorporation of Starbase as a Type-C Municipality.”
The election is scheduled for May 3, 2025, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the HUB at 39046 LBJ Blvd., Brownsville, Texas. Early voting is available at the same location from April 22 to April 29, with specific hours set by the county.
Judge Treviño also noted: “If the election passes, this will be the newest town in Cameron County since Los Indios in 1995. We look forward to seeing the outcome of this election.”
If approved, Starbase would become the first U.S. city built specifically around spaceflight activities, further expanding SpaceX’s presence in Texas alongside Musk’s other companies, including Tesla and X (formerly Twitter).
