Starbase Seeks to Triple Size Amid Environmental Concerns
STARBASE, Texas — The newly incorporated city of Starbase, which surrounds Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket complex in South Texas, is seeking to annex approximately 7,100 acres of surrounding land — including portions of a national wildlife refuge — in a move that has alarmed landowners and environmental activists who fear the expansion will accelerate ecological damage to the region.
The proposed annexation, which would more than triple the city’s current territory of about 1,100 acres, is being pursued under Texas’s C-4 consent-based annexation law, which requires property owners to voluntarily agree to be annexed. According to the San Antonio Express-News, an analysis of the more than 800 properties targeted for annexation shows approximately 3,700 acres of federally owned land, about 1,000 acres of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department property, and about 2,400 acres belonging to private or corporate owners, including SpaceX and shell companies associated with it.
Much of the proposed annexation would pull in land within the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which surrounds the space city. The city says the annexation would allow for “more efficient coordination with federal and state partners” and help create “clear, cohesive city boundaries,” according to documents posted on the city’s website.
A City Built Around SpaceX
Starbase was formally incorporated on May 20, 2025, after voters approved the measure with 97.7% support. Only 283 people were eligible to vote, all but a handful of whom worked for SpaceX. The city was created, in part, to help grow SpaceX’s workforce and increase capacity for the manufacturing needed for more rocket launches.
The city’s governance structure has raised concerns about conflicts of interest. The current mayor, Robert “Bobby” Peden, is a SpaceX vice president, and one of the two city commissioners also works for the company. Barbara Buckner, a 56-year-old landowner whose grandmother was a Holocaust survivor, questioned the arrangement: “How can you be supporting residents when you work for SpaceX?”
Environmental Track Record Under Scrutiny
The proposed expansion comes against a backdrop of documented environmental violations. In 2024, NPR reported that the Environmental Protection Agency found SpaceX had violated the Clean Water Act after tens of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater were discharged into the surrounding area. Both the EPA and Texas regulators levied fines totaling more than $150,000 against the company in September 2024.
SpaceX’s operations have also caused habitat damage. A June 2024 launch destroyed nests of vulnerable shorebird populations, and the April 2023 first Starship launch destroyed the launch pad and scattered debris across the wetlands.
Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Center, said she has documented debris after multiple launches. “I’ve come out here several times after a SpaceX launch to document all of the debris,” Hinojosa told NPR. “I have photos of metal shrapnel blown up into this area that we’re on.”
Expanding Launch Capacity
The expansion comes as SpaceX ramps up its operations. In April 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration approved SpaceX’s request to increase launches from its Boca Chica Launch Site to up to 25 annual Starship/Super Heavy orbital launches. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also approved a 21-acre expansion of the Starship launch site in February 2026, more than doubling its current 20-acre footprint, as the San Antonio Express-News reported.
SpaceX is preparing to go public later in 2026, reportedly valued at $1.5 trillion, with plans to raise $50 billion in its initial public offering. The company is also under pressure to meet NASA’s Artemis program timelines, which carry contracts worth $4 billion.
Landowners Resist
Gerold Podraza, an 83-year-old landowner, said the annexation represents a troubling concentration of power. “It just represents that the people who have money are able to do things that they shouldn’t be allowed to do,” Podraza told NPR. “The only reason why that’s happening is because they have leverage with politicians, and they can influence politicians to make judgments that are not good for the community that they represent.”
Sofia Benavides, a Cameron County Commissioner representing the area where Starbase is located, acknowledged the legal reality: “There’s nothing that we can do to stop it.”
Starbase has until August 18 to hear back from potentially impacted landowners about the annexation plan and determine if it has the necessary signatures to move forward. The city is then required to hold two public hearings before voting in September on whether to annex.
Hinojosa’s organization is looking into possible legal action to prevent the annexation. “They call it Starbase,” she said. “You pull the curtain back, it’s the SpaceX annexation. SpaceX threatens the Rio Grande Valley. And that’s why we’ll continue to resist.”
What’s Next
The outcome of the annexation vote could set a precedent for how private space companies interact with local governance and protected lands. The Texas Supreme Court is also scheduled to hear a case on March 5, 2026, about whether the city, led by SpaceX employees, can periodically close Boca Chica Beach for Starship tests and launches.
As the August 18 deadline approaches, the central question remains: Will Starbase obtain the necessary signatures from impacted landowners, and what will the September vote bring? For environmental activists and resistant landowners, the fight over Starbase’s expansion is far from over.