San Francisco Frontiers - Starbase city grows near Musk's launch site and wilderness refuges

Starbase on the south Texas coast is HQ for the Starship project and something of a shrine to its South African-born founder, the world's richest man and until recently one of President Donald Trump's closest advisors.

Musk's short Washington tenure spearheading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, ended last week, with a vow to get back to his day job of running his business empire, including SpaceX, Tesla and Starlink.

The departure came as investors grew increasingly nervous about the spillover from Musk's reputational damage after publicly allying himself to Trump and tearing through the US government in search of spending cuts.

Now he hopes to hunker down in Starbase near the Mexican border and get back to the matter of reaching Mars.

The scene is a curious mix of futuristic high-tech and down-to-earth attractions for a city that was officially incorporated in May but remains very much a work-in-progress.

Cars speed down the narrow Boca Chica Boulevard leading to Starbase, where an AFP film crew was not allowed to enter.

A huge bust of Musk on the outskirts of the settlement was vandalized in April and now stands with the right cheek peeled off, covered by a giant plaster.

A cluster of buildings rises near the launch site, including an imposing corporate tower that bears Musk's X logo and prefabricated houses painted black, white, and gray.

For now, the city has only about 500 residents, some still living in trailers and some in the prefab homes, which have patios and outdoor grills.

Looming over the landscape are two models of super heavy launchers and one Starship rocket.

"I think it's pretty cool, making a whole entire city based around a launch site," said 21-year-old computer engineer Dominick Cardenas who was visiting the area for the unsuccessful test launch last week.

"Maybe I'll move down here one day. Who knows? I'd love to go to Mars, who wouldn't?"

- Environmental impact -

But the space city is surrounded by nature and wildlife, especially birds.

Activist Christopher Basaldu, who is a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Native American tribe and holds a PhD in sociocultural anthropology, called Musk a "colonizer."

"The land here is sacred to the original inhabitants of the area. And SpaceX is polluting and desecrating this land," he told AFP.

There are two federal wildlife refuges in the area where SpaceX operates: the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the Laguna Atascosa.

There is also the Boca Chica Beach, where residents have been spending their summers for decades and which is now closed during test flights.

"There isn't supposed to be exploding rockets next to pristine wetlands and habitat," Hinojosa said.

In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency fined SpaceX for unauthorized discharges of water from its deluge system into wetlands near its Starbase launch pad connected to the Rio Grande.

Despite protests by Hinjosa and other groups, SpaceX received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to increase the number of launches per year from five to 25.

Hinojosa calls it "very much a David versus Goliath situation."

"We are one of the poorest communities in the country... and we're dealing with the biggest bully on the planet, Elon Musk," she said.

"Elon Musk has so much power that he's found a way around most of our lawsuits," she added.

- Mall, restaurants, power plant -

According to a document obtained by CNBC, Starbase City officials have notified the residents that they might "lose the right to continue using" their property as they currently do.

A hearing is scheduled for the end of June to discuss the new zoning plan.

SpaceX is also building the Rio West giant shopping mall and restaurant complex near Starbase, valued at $15 million, according to official filings.

And environmental activists worry that the Rio Grande liquified natural gas plant being built in the neighboring city of Brownsville, which has the capacity to process methane, a gas that powers Starship, could become Musk's fueling station.

SpaceX representatives, Starbase City Mayor Bobby Peden as well as Cameron County officials did not respond to AFP requests for comment for this story.

K.Gray--SFF