This is not even Musk’s first foray into company towns—a model that sees its roots in anti-labor organization and corporatist fascism. Farther north in Texas, near the outskirts of Austin, SpaceX operates Snailbrook, a city incorporated in 2021 and pitched as a sort of utopia for SpaceX and Boring Company employees.

About 3,400 people work at the site, close to the Mexican border. The SpaceX founder wants it to become an incorporated city.

Company petitioned Brownsville's Cameron County to have incorporation of Starbase into a town put on the ballot.