Elon Musk is looking to take us beyond the stars, starting with a little town in South Texas. By Andrea Romano
According to the Houston Chronicle, Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is building his deep-space rocket in Boca Chica, a town along the Gulf Coast of Texas, near the Mexican border. And he’s thinking it’s time for a name change.
Musk tweeted on Tuesday, “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas,” adding, “From thence to Mars, And hence the Stars.” The tweet was likely in reference to possibly changing the name of Boca Chica to Starbase, Bloomberg reported.
According to Bloomberg, the tweet might not be just an idle idea. A SpaceX representative apparently made a “casual inquiry” on how to incorporate Boca Chica into a new town and rename it, Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino told Bloomberg.
“Sending a tweet doesn’t make it so. They have a lot of hoops and hurdles to go through before they can make it so,” said Trevino. “I think they may be getting a little ahead of themselves.”
“If SpaceX and Elon Musk would like to pursue down this path, they must abide by all state incorporation statutes,” Trevino added in a statement to Insider. “Cameron County will process any appropriate petitions in conformity with applicable law.” Boca Chica is an unincorporated town that has a water system that’s shipped to residents in Boca Chica from nearby Brownsville, according to Bloomberg. The proposed town of Starbase would include an area that’s actually larger than the town of Boca Chica, Insider reported.
But Musk already has some roots in the Lone Star State. He announced he’s relocating to the state back in December, according to Verge, plans to build his next Tesla factory near East Austin, and already has a SpaceX facility in Boca Chica.
Although the town of Starbase does not exist yet, it seems entirely possible that Musk can make this dream happen.
Andrea Romano is a freelance writer in New York City. Follow her on Twitter @theandrearomano.
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