Elon Musk announced Tuesday his plans to create an entirely new city in Texas that he says will be called “Starbase.”
“Creating the city of Starbase, Texas,” he tweeted. “From thence to Mars, And hence the Stars.”
The tweet garnered over 200,000 reactions, including one Twitter user who asked the Tesla Motors CEO if the new city would be dog friendly.
“Very much so & its leader shall be The Doge,” Musk responded.
While the billionaire didn’t reveal where the city will be in the Lone Star State, he did note that it will be “an area much larger than Boca Chica,” the city in which Texas’ SpaceX launchpad is located.
A long-time resident of Southern California, Musk confirmed his move to Texas in December after clashing with government officials over regulations in Fremont, Calif. Musk has called the government a “monopoly that cannot go bankrupt.”
“If a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled and then they don’t win the championship anymore. California has been winning for too long,” Musk told The Wall Street Journal, reiterating his displeasure with Californian regulations.
Musk said the government should “just get out of the way” of businesses, and that COVID lockdowns were “fascist“, but his move to Texas was personal and Tesla itself would remain in California for now.
“First of all, Tesla and SpaceX obviously have massive operations in California. In fact, it’s worth noting that Tesla is the last car company still manufacturing cars in California. SpaceX is the last aerospace company still doing significant manufacturing in California,” he said. “There used to be over a dozen car plants in California. And California used to be the center of aerospace manufacturing! My companies are the last two left…That’s a very important point to make.”
Last summer, the CEO also announced that Austin, Texas, was his choice for a new $1 billion factory in which the Cybertruck – an electric pickup truck – would be built.
During an interview on the popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Musk said he believed Austin was going to experience unparalleled growth in the coming years.
“It’s going to be the biggest boomtown that America has seen in 50 years, at least – megaboom,” he said.
According to Musk, “Austin is a bit like mini California,” making it a prime choice for relocation. The CEO said he asked Tesla’s team where it would like to see a new factory established, and the “No. 1 choice was Austin.”
