SpaceX petitions Cameron County for election to decide incorporation

Eddie Treviño Jr.

SpaceX said it has sent a petition to Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. requesting that he call an election to decide whether, Starbase, Texas, the company’s name for its Starship development and production complex at Boca Chica can incorporate.

The petition’s cover letter was signed by Kathryn Lueders, Starbase general manager, writing on behalf of the “entire Starbase community.”

She noted that SpaceX is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure and generating millions of dollars in income and taxes for local businesses and government, “all with the goal of making South Texas the Gateway to Mars.”

“SpaceX is proud to play a major role in the South Texas and Cameron County communities, which are home to thousands of our employees, with several hundred living at Starbase,” Lueders wrote. “To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community. That is why we are requesting that Cameron County call an election to enable the incorporation of Starbase as the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley.”

Incorporation would streamline the building of “amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live” for current resident/employees and those to come, she said.

“As you know, through agreements with the County, SpaceX currently performs several civil functions around Starbase due to its remote location, including management of the roads, utilities, and the provision of schooling and medical care for the residents,” according to the letter. “Incorporation would move the management of some of these functions to a more appropriate public body.”

Lueders emphasized that incorporation would not alter “SpaceX’s commitment to being a science-backed steward of the local environment” or the many environmental mitigations developed in with state and federal agencies to minimize the facility’s impact.

“We will also continue our efforts to be a force for good in the area by funding public works projects in the County, supporting the conservation of local flora and fauna, and contributing to organizations like the Friends of Laguna Atascosa (National Wildlife Refuge) Adopt-an-Ocelot Program, the Peregrine Fund and the Gladys Porter Zoo,” she wrote.

Lueders listed the various ways SpaceX and Starbase employees and residents help in improving the environment, including beach and highway clean-ups, partnerships with Sea Turtle Inc. to find and transport injured sea turtles, and environmental education efforts. With the development of Starship, SpaceX is seeking to “fundamentally alter humanity’s access to space,” according to the letter.

“Starbase is a one-of-a-kind location for manufacturing, testing, and launching the most advanced rocket and spaceships ever conceived — a fully and rapidly reusable system that paves the way for humanity’s return to the Moon and eventual travel to Mars,” she said. “We look forward to continuing its transformation into a world-class hub for the men and women working to make life multiplanetary.”

Lueders expressed gratitude for the county’s “support, guidance and partnership over the years,” adding that SpaceX believes “incorporation will only strengthen and deepen our commitment and ties to the area.”

Treviño could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

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