SpaceX loses bid to control beach access near launch facility in Texas

As SpaceX awaits the results of a critical election that would turn the location of its Starbase launch site into an incorporated Texas city, lawmakers have declined to give Elon Musk's aerospace company greater control over a main highway and public beach. Starbase, where the Musk-led company builds and launches its rockets, is located in Boca Chica, Texas, on the Gulf Coast. Residents of the area are voting on whether to turn the small community into a city, with the election scheduled to conclude on Saturday. On Monday, the Texas House State Affairs Committee voted against a bill that would have given SpaceX greater control over a highway and public beach access in the likely event the company is victorious in its effort to make Starbase into Texas' newest city. Around 500 people live in the community today, including SpaceX employees and about 120 children, according to the Texas Tribune. SpaceX has historically needed to close roads and beaches around Starbase in order to condu ... Read full article.