A new city, Starbase, will appear in the US state of Texas, where Elon Musk’s SpaceX company will be transformed into a spaceport. Voters voted on the bill, which ended with a score of 212 to 6.
This was reported by The Washington Post.
The newly created city of Starbase has an area of 3.8 square kilometers and includes parts of the unincorporated village of Boca Chica. The municipality is home to more than 200 people and is governed by a small city government – Mayor Robert Peden and City Commissioners Jenna Petrzhelka and Jordan Bass. All three ran unopposed and are current or former SpaceX employees.
SpaceX moved to Texas in 2014. Since then, the company has built a giant complex with a 146-meter tower for launching and landing rockets. The company describes this base – Starbase – as one of the world’s first private spaceports designed for orbital flights. Here, Starship rockets are tested, which are part of Elon Musk’s plan to create a space transportation system and colonize Mars.
Initially, local residents and officials supported SpaceX’s arrival, hoping that the company would revive the economy of the poor neighborhood, where nearly a third of the residents lived below the poverty line. However, later on, the locals began to raise alarms about the environmental damage – water pollution, destruction of natural habitats, etc.