Featured Image Credit: Brandon Bell/Staff / Torsten Asmus / Getty
A new city could be on the way in Texas as Elon Musk has submitted a request to a judge to form a base around SpaceX operations in the southern US state.
Elon Musk is certainly an ambitious individual, and recent news has seen him advocate for the solution to America's health crisis, alongside a bizarre investment that you might not expect of the billionaire.
SpaceX remains one of his key priorities though, and with his new role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) we could see major enhancements to the private space company that might be the most valuable of its kind in the world.
With this boost in funds comes inevitable expansion though, and seemingly top of the list is the establishment of a new city, which Musk has requested in a formal letter to Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño.
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SpaceX HQ will now officially be in the city of Starbase, Texas! https://t.co/zpN4t3mJQT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 13, 2024
"On behalf of the entire Starbase community," the letter begins, "I am pleased to submit this petition requesting an election to determine whether Starbase, Texas, should be incorporated as a city."
Currently, Starbase is home to the SpaceX launch site, and is largely an industrial complex that isn't exactly what you'd typically recognize as a city.
However, the letter argues: "To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community."
Plans outline the development of 'world class' housing that would proving a living situation for the 'hundreds' that currently call the area home alongside incoming prospective workers that would continue to grow SpaceX operations.
Musk has announced in a quoted post of the letter that SpaceX will also be moving its headquarters to the location if it is indeed certified as an official city, which would be a big change from the current location of Hawthorne, California.
One of the biggest reasons for this jump as argued in the letter, outside of simply expanding SpaceX business, is the continued push towards Mars.
It claims that this move is to work towards "the goal of making South Texas the Gateway to Mars," and it's clear that this is an operation of vital importance to Musk and his company.
The social media reaction has been positive to this news too, with one user remarking: "This is how fast things move today. Elon Musk is building a city in space, starting in Texas."
"I just love this," another expresses, "A new community of people dedicated to the future."
Hopefully these plans are a little more realistic than others proposed by Musk, which have seen the richest man in the world theorize about a rapid transatlantic train, or a flight across the world in just half an hour.
