Billionaire Elon Musk’s plan of gaining control of the area that houses his space exploration company, SpaceX, is now a reality. A majority of residents in a small town in South Texas have voted in favor of incorporating a new city, Starbase. The region is primarily home to people who work on building rocket boosters and engines for SpaceX. Following the 212-six vote, Musk declared “Starbase, Texas Is Now a Real City,” on his social media platform X on Saturday night.
Starbase’s Win Marks a Turning Point for SpaceX
The proposed city of Starbase will span across about 1.6 sq miles (3.9 sq km) around the SpaceX headquarters. The idea of turning the region into its own municipality was to bypass bureaucratic hurdles and speed up approvals for SpaceX’s test launches. Residents also elected a new Mayor and two commissioners for Starbase, all SpaceX employees. They will oversee local planning, taxation, and other local issues related to the city. Notably, Starbase will be classified as a Type-C city under Texas law, which applies to municipalities with less than 5,000 residents, and attracts a property tax of up to 1.5%.
SpaceX has to often close a local highway and restrict access to nearby Boca Chica Beach and Boca Chica State Park during launch tests and other operations. Until now, SpaceX would have to obtain permission from Cameron County to undertake these activities, but after the incorporation of Starbase, such approvals will be handled internally. Notably, SpaceX plans to ramp up its rocket launches from the Texas site to 25 per year, up from the current five. The company is already facing opposition from environmental groups about air and water pollution caused from the rocket debris.
Starbase’s win comes at a crucial time for Musk, whose electrical vehicle (EV) venture, Tesla (TSLA), faces declining global sales mainly due to his close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump and his role as head of the DOGE (Department of Energy Efficiency). Musk declared recently that he is going to scale back on his involvement at DOGE to focus on Tesla, SpaceX, and other businesses.
Is Tesla a Good Stock to Buy Now?
Wall Street prefers to remain on the sidelines on Tesla stock due to the ongoing headwinds. On TipRanks, TSLA stock has a Hold consensus rating based on 16 Buys, nine Holds, and 11 Sell ratings. Also, the average Tesla price target of $283.69 implies 1.2% downside potential from current levels. Year-to-date, TSLA stock has lost 28.9%.
