Starbase looks to grow city by annexation, adding 1,200 acres next to SpaceX

The city of Starbase — a municipality formed around SpaceX’s rocket launch site at Boca Chica Beach — is preparing to expand again. 

Officials are expected to vote Wednesday on annexing 1,256 acres of nearby land, a move that would expand the city’s footprint and extend its reach further into Cameron County’s coastal area, public records show.

Starbase plans to host a public hearing to expand its extraterritorial jurisdiction and then vote to annex the land into city limits. The city’s ETJ must be expanded to encompass the new city boundaries, according to Starbase’s agenda packet posted about 7 p.m. Tuesday. The agenda itself was posted last week, and the packet was added after an inquiry by the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal.  

The vote comes just two days after SpaceX successfully launched its eleventh test rocket into space.