SpaceX’s futuristic city of Starbase finalizes massive 7,100-acre annexation. Here’s what we know.

The South Texas city of Starbase, a self-described futuristic community focused on helping trillionaire Elon Musk build reusable rockets to explore outer space through Space Exploration Technologies Corp., was roughly 1,000 acres across with about 250 registered voters about a year ago. 

As of Sept. 21, Starbase officially expanded its boundaries about seven times that to about 8,100 acres after annexing 7,133 acres. Only 280 different property owners span that swathe of largely undeveloped land, and the annexation was not requested or voluntary, but at least 12 landowners offered signatures to help make the deal happen. 

Elon Musk’s mission to take humans to the Moon and back, then eventually Mars, has been financed in part by U.S. government contracts, a growing Starlink satellite network, and various other affiliated businesses. 

Land control has been a cornerstone of Musk’s plans, and it has expanded across the Cameron County peninsula of Boca Chica from the beach toward the city of Brownsville and onto South Padre Island. That land is not only changing hands quickly every day, but construction and roads are popping up where a sandy expanse stood for generations.