One City Evicted, Residents Become Homeless Because of Elon Musk

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia –In early May 2025, Elon Musk’s SpaceX headquarters officially became its own city called Starbase. It is located in the southern tip of the state of Texas, close to the Mexican border.

The formation of the independent city has had a negative impact on the local community. This is because Starbase reportedly plans to ‘evict’ local residents from their homes.

Reported by CNBC International, Monday (2/6/2025), Starbase notified several city residents that they would likely lose their rights to use their property as it is now.

Starbase is said to be considering new zoning regulations and city maps. The notice sent to property owners in the “Mixed Use District” will only allow “small-scale residential, office, retail, and service uses.”

Starbase plans to hold a public hearing on June 23, 2025 regarding the zoning plan and the creation of a new map. The notification was signed by Kent Myers, the newly appointed city official for Starbase.

Representatives for Starbase and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Starbase, a “C-type municipal corporation,” was officially formed earlier this month after Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor won a local election. It is now run by officials who are current and former SpaceX employees.

As of earlier this year, Starbase had a population of 500 people, about 260 of whom are SpaceX employees, according to the Texas Tribune. The rest of the residents are mostly relatives of SpaceX employees.

Starbase held a city commission meeting last week, two days after SpaceX launched a test flight of its Starship rocket. The test failed, marking its third consecutive failure.

The Starship system is designed to send humans and equipment from Earth to the Moon, and Musk aims to eventually use the rocket to colonize Mars.

SpaceX has secured $20 billion in government contracts since 2008. It also said it will take in several billion dollars in state funding each year for the next few years.

Designating Starbase as a self-contained city helps SpaceX get easier permits to build the facilities the company needs.

The city is currently trying to win the ability to close major roads and beaches to launch activities that SpaceX needs.

SOURCE : CNBC INDONESIA