Members of a South Texas community that has served as the hub of Elon Musk’s rocket launch company, SpaceX, voted on Saturday to formally establish a new city called Starbase, fulfilling one of Mr. Musk’s long-held dreams.

All but six of the 218 people who voted supported incorporating the city of Starbase, according to Cameron County, which administered the vote.

There were 283 eligible voters, said Remi Garza, the elections administrator for the county.

The community, known to locals as Boca Chica, covers about 1.5 square miles on a spit of land that brushes up against the Mexican border.

SpaceX broke ground in the area in 2014, and it has since become the company’s central hub and launch site, as well as home to hundreds of its employees.

On his social media platform, X, Mr. Musk has referred to the area as Starbase more than a dozen times in the past four years.

“My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” Mr. Musk wrote in June 2021. “It’s kinda awesome though.”

In December, people living around the company offices and launch site filed a petition to officially establish the city of Starbase, Texas.

The petition described a community of about 500 inhabitants, including at least 219 primary residents and more than 100 children. Nearly everyone is a renter and works at SpaceX, according to the petition.

The municipality would be eligible to create its own police and fire departments, as well as to adopt its own ordinances, though it does not have to.

“Cities are required by law to do very little,” said Alan Bojorquez, a lawyer in Austin who specializes in helping Texans through the process of incorporating new municipalities.

Road maintenance is one of the most significant practical issues and would no longer be handled by the county. But, as a municipality, Starbase would be eligible for state and federal grants, would have certain immunity from lawsuits and could also condemn property, Mr. Bojorquez said.

“Starbase started with one shovel,” Mr. Musk said on X shortly after the vote was finalized.

J. David Goodman contributed reporting.

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A vote Saturday to formally organize Starbase as a city was approved by a lopsided margin among the small group of voters who live there and are mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX.

With all the votes in, the tally was 212 in favor to 6 against, according to results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department.

A statue of SpaceX founder Elon Musk sat in what will become the new city of Starbase, Texas. AP

Musk celebrated in a post on his social platform, X, saying it is “now a real city!”

Starbase is the facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program that is under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA that hopes to send astronauts back to the moon and someday to Mars.

Musk first floated the idea of Starbase in 2021 and approval of the new city was all but certain. Of the 283 eligible voters in the area, most are believed to be Starbase workers.

The election victory was personal for Musk.

The billionaire’s popularity has diminished since he became the chain-saw-wielding public face of President Donald Trump’s federal job and spending cuts, and profits at his Tesla car company have plummeted.

SpaceX has generally drawn widespread support from local officials for its jobs and investment in the area.

But the creation of an official company town has also drawn critics who worry it will expand Musk’s personal control over the area, with potential authority to close a popular beach and state park for launches.

Residents approved a measure to make the area surrounding the rocket launch site its own city. AP

Companion efforts to the city vote include bills in the state Legislature to shift that authority from the county to the new town’s mayor and city council.

All these measures come as SpaceX is asking federal authorities for permission to increase the number of South Texas launches from five to 25 a year.

The city at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border is only about 1.5 square miles, crisscrossed by a few roads and dappled with airstream trailers and modest midcentury homes.

The small group of voters were mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX. AP

SpaceX officials have said little about exactly why they to want a company town and did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

“We need the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” Starbase General Manager Kathryn Lueders wrote to local officials in 2024 with the request to get the city issue on the ballot.

The letter said the company already manages roads and utilities, as well as “the provisions of schooling and medical care” for those living on the property.

Starbase is the facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program. AFP via Getty Images

SpaceX officials have told lawmakers that granting the city authority to close the beach would streamline launch operations. SpaceX rocket launches and engine tests, and even just moving certain equipment around the launch base requires the closure of a local highway and access to Boca Chica State Park and Boca Chica Beach.

Critics say beach closure authority should stay with the county government, which represents a broader population that uses the beach and park. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr. has said the county has worked well with SpaceX and there is no need for change.

Another proposed bill would make it a Class B misdemeanor with up to 180 days in jail if someone doesn’t comply with an order to evacuate the beach.

Protests were held at Boca Chica beach ahead of the incorporation election. AP

The South Texas Environmental Justice Network, which has organized protests against the city vote and the beach access issue, held another demonstration Saturday that attracted dozens of people.

Josette Hinojosa, whose young daughter was building sandcastle nearby, said she was taking part to try to ensure continued access to a beach her family has enjoyed for generations.

With SpaceX, Hinojosa said, “Some days it’s closed, and some days you get turned away,”

Organizer Christopher Basaldú, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas tribe, said his ancestors have long been in the area, where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf.

“It’s not just important,” he said, “it’s sacred.”

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