The newest piece of infrastructure coming to Starbase, Texas, isn’t a launch mount or a booster. It’s a water pipeline, and who can hook up a tap (and on what terms) will shape the definition of “company town.” 

The new line, which will stretch from Brownsville to the newly incorporated city of Starbase, will replace the truck-hauled deliveries SpaceX has used to transport potable water for its employees and on-site residents. Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) COO Mark Dombroski confirmed the line at a July 16 meeting, saying the board had executed a contract with SpaceX to provide water as an in-city customer. 

The BPUB approved the SpaceX contract on June 2, Dombroski told TechCrunch over email. He did not explain why SpaceX is being treated as an in-city nonresidential customer, which carries a cheaper rate class than outside-city customers, despite the fact that the company did, indeed, establish its own city.

“Under a non-standard development agreement, SpaceX will extend — at their cost — a line to a metering point within the city limits, then transport the water to Starbase,” he continued. “They will also pay for and construct the improvements needed for BPUB to deliver water to the meter. This arrangement is intended to supersede the water hauling arrangement after SpaceX starts taking water through the meter. Timing is driven largely by SpaceX’s construction schedule.” 

The potable water deliveries have been constrained by a 60,000 gallons per day cap under the current hauled-water purchase agreement between BPUB and SpaceX, according to a January 2024 letter from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The pipeline would change that, making it easier for SpaceX to build out more amenities and housing for employees. 

For a handful of non-SpaceX affiliated homes, getting access to that water may come with some terms and conditions. 

In July, nearly 40 properties along the stretch between Brownsville and Boca Chica were abruptly cut off from the county water service, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Cameron County previously delivered fresh water as a “courtesy” service to these properties, but the county now says it is Starbase’s responsibility to deliver water to these residents. 

Starbase disagrees: In July, Starbase city administrator Kent Myers reportedly sent a letter to a Cameron County commissioner saying the abrupt water cutoff “poses safety and public health risks.” 

Starbase “has neither the legal authority nor operational capacity to deliver water to these residents,” Myers said. 

Meanwhile, SpaceX has reportedly distributed an “unconditional and perpetual agreement” to non-SpaceX affiliated homes that would exchange access to Starbase’s water and sewer system for residents’ agreement to leave the area for “any and all launch, testing and other operational activities.”

The document also states that “SpaceX has no obligation to provide residents with access to SpaceX’s water and wastewater treatment,” nor does it guarantee the quality or volume of water and blocks residents from seeking “legal or monetary recourse” against the company.

A city — with no utilities

The newly incorporated city of Starbase, governed by SpaceX executives, is a separate municipal entity adjacent to and encompassing SpaceX’s sprawling South Texas launch site. 

The city was incorporated in May. Only registered voters within the proposed boundary were allowed to vote on the incorporation. There were 247 lots inside that boundary, and only 10 were not owned by SpaceX, according to an affidavit submitted by SpaceX senior manager of spaceport operations Richard Cardile.

Even before the vote was cast, SpaceX had been working behind the scenes to formalize potable water provisions for employees and residents. 

SpaceX established a state-regulated drinking-water system, replete with a half-a-million-gallon ground storage tank, plus service pumps, a chlorine analyzer, tank mixer, and other hardware, according to TCEQ records. The central water system, which is supplied by the two water haulers, is small compared to a city utility, but sizable for an on-site, industrial operation. It serves 239 residential service connections, or meters, which can include multiple units.

Starbase’s role is limited by design: “The City of Starbase does not provide any utility services,” Myers told TechCrunch. “These services are provided by SpaceX within the City Limits.” 

In practice, that means the forthcoming Brownsville-Starbase pipeline would feed a private, SpaceX-run water system. Neighbors don’t automatically gain a right to a tap; any connection would be at SpaceX’s discretion, and on SpaceX’s terms.

The planned pipeline solves near-term scarcity for SpaceX employees and their families but doesn’t create a public right to water. 

According to public records, SpaceX has not obtained a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), a Texas Public Utility Commission authorization that determines who may retail water, so has no obligation to serve third parties. 

SpaceX did not respond to TechCrunch’s questions on whether it will be adding public utilities to its long list of commercial services.