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McALLEN – SpaceX’s goal is to colonize Mars. But first they want to found an official city in Texas.

Employees who live on the site of SpaceX’s South Texas operations are calling for a special election to decide whether the site can be incorporated into a city.

Current residents of Starbase, the company’s headquarters and launch site in South Texas, filed a petition with Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño on Thursday, according to a SpaceX spokesman.

“We are investing billions in infrastructure and generating hundreds of millions in revenue and taxes for local businesses and governments, all with the goal of making South Texas the gateway to Mars,” Starbase General Manager Kathryn Lueders said in a letter to Treviño.

Lueders wrote that the area employs several hundred people and that incorporating the site would streamline the processes for building amenities needed to make Starbase a premier place to live. Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, announced his intention to move the company’s headquarters to Texas earlier this year.

The spaceport — and perhaps the future city — lies on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico and about 25 miles east of Brownsville, the state’s southernmost city. A single section of highway connects the city with the launch site.

The Starbase spans acres of previously undeveloped land and includes launch pads, office space and dozens of portable homes for employees.

“As you know, due to the remote location surrounding the Starbase, SpaceX currently performs several civilian functions through agreements with the county, including managing roads, utilities, and providing education and medical care to residents,” Lueders added added. “Incorporation would transfer the management of some of these functions to a more appropriate public body.”

She assured that the inclusion would not affect her efforts, developed jointly with state and federal authorities, to minimize environmental impacts. This came after regulators accused the company of not having the appropriate permits for its water flooding system. The company remains a target of local environmental groups who are skeptical that the company can operate without harming the surrounding ecosystem.

Treviño did not respond to an interview request.

Last month, Cameron County commissioners rejected a SpaceX amendment that would allow them to divide their limited residential area into multiple lots.

“SpaceX is not the typical developer whose goal is to build and sell infrastructure,” said an Oct. 10 letter to county commissioners from an engineering firm representing SpaceX.

“SpaceX’s ability to provide adequate housing for its on-site employees is critical to the development of the space launch complex, and there are currently hundreds of employees on the waiting list to move to campus,” the engineer added. “To achieve this, SpaceX must maximize its space.”

If Starbase were to become its own city, it would harken back to an era where cities were typically built around a single business or industry, such as Sugar Land. The city, about 20 miles southwest of Houston, was founded around the Imperial Sugar Company, founded in 1908, followed by the city being incorporated in 1959.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.