SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, today took its first step toward officially dumping Delaware and relocating the commercial space exploration company to Texas. Meanwhile, SpaceX has registered plans to build a $100 million office in Brownsville, Texas, with construction starting next week.
Musk has been feuding with Delaware since a state chancery court judge struck down his $55.8 billion pay package last month, putting his status as the world’s richest man in jeopardy. After the ruling, he pledged to leave the state entirely and has since moved his brain interface company Neuralink to Nevada. Today’s plan to move SpaceX headquarters to Texas is the next shoe to drop. Musk has already said that Tesla will move its Texas incorporation, where the company is headquartered, to Austin. Tesla’s move promises to be more complicated than Neuralink and SpaceX, requiring shareholder approval.
About 350 miles from Austin, Musk hopes to expand further into Texas. SpaceX filed plans yesterday to build a five-story office tower and 1 million-square-foot industrial facility in Brownsville. The area already hosts a manufacturing and development center that spans 20 miles and allows testing of SpaceX Starship rockets, the Dallas Morning News. Construction of the SpaceX office is expected to wrap up in January 2025, according to Texas state documents.
THE Morning news reported that Musk is agitating to have a portion of Brownsville and nearby Boca Chica on the Gulf Coast renamed Starbase. The nickname is a tribute to the financial investment that Musk and his companies have made in the region.
SpaceX’s Texas filings listed Jin Yi, a SpaceX senior mechanical engineer and former executive at real estate and management firm GID, as the contact for the Brownsville project. Yi did not respond to a message for comment.