Musk wants to take people to Mars. But he also has big plans on the ground.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk (53) wants to turn the site of his space company SpaceX in the US state of Texas into a city. The company has submitted an application to the local authorities in Cameron County to incorporate the complex, known as Starbase, according to a letter published on X on Thursday (local time). Such a move could help accelerate the development of the necessary infrastructure to make Starbase a “premier place to live”, it said.
“We are investing billions in infrastructure and generating millions in profits and taxes for local businesses and government, all with the purpose of making South Texas the gateway to Mars,” wrote Kathryn Lueders, CEO of Starbase.
The remote Gulf of Mexico site is located in Boca Chica, in the southeast corner of Texas, near the border with the neighboring country. According to media reports, around 3,500 people work at the starbase, which also houses the SpaceX spaceport. Several hundred of them live there.
Cameron County itself has a population of around 420,000. A vote is required for incorporation. Authorities are currently reviewing the request, he said.
However, opposition to the creation of SpaceX has also formed in the Rio Grande Valley. A local initiative called Save RGV (Rio Grande Valley) accuses the corporation of harming the environment. The company, for its part, stated in the letter that it was committed to protecting the environment.
Musk, who according to Forbes is the richest person in the world with a fortune of around 430 billion dollars, announced in the summer that he would be moving the headquarters of SpaceX and the online platform X from California to Texas. He cited his displeasure with the liberal policies in the west coast state as his reason for doing so.
Musk is also the head of automaker Tesla, and has already moved the company from Palo Alto, in Silicon Valley, California, to Austin, Texas.
dpa
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