The American multimillionaire Elon Musk won his bet on Saturday May 3, to create a small town in Texas around the industrial complex of his space company, SpaceX. Almost 100 % of the 283 people called in the ballot box – employees or people related to the Boca Chica Bay site, on the Mexican border – approved the transformation of “Starbase” (“base in the stars”), a coastal land of 4 square kilometers, into a full -fledged municipality of the same name, the mayor of which will be a SpaceX senior manager.
The creation of this city is a success for Elon Musk, ally of Donald Trump, who was invested in the DOGE commission, charged by the White House to make clear cuts in public spending, but which has not fulfilled its objectives. He is also faced with great difficulties with his Tesla automotive business and said that he would gradually return to his business.
SpaceX installed its industrial complex in this coastal wetland, bordered by the Rio Grande River and natural areas, to carry out tests and rocket launches. The site has been operational since 2019.
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Elon Musk’s project to make a city “Will only cause more environmental destruction in the region”denounced to the agency France-Presse (AFP) Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of a local environment for the environment for the environment. “There will be more illegal discharges, they will increase their dangerous rocket operations and cause more seismic activity that will shake our homes and destroy more natural habitats”she anticipates.
Fine for illegal spills
It is Elon Musk himself, the richest man in the world, according to the magazine Forbeswho had proposed the name of Starbase after a visit to the site four years ago. The official request to make it a real municipality was submitted to the local authorities of Texas, a state led by the Republicans, in December 2024, after the victory of Donald Trump in the presidential election.
SpaceX argued that it already ensures the management of infrastructure, including roads, and health or education services. The company has also promised that the creation of the city would not question its efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Solicited by AFP, SpaceX did not follow up.
In 2024, the American Federal Environmental Protection Agency had a fine of SpaceX for illegal spills in Texas rivers. The company was also accused of having damaged wild bird nests with its rockets. “To compensate for this heinous crime, I will refrain from eating omelette for a week”had ironized, in response, Elon Musk on social networks.
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