Talk:SpaceX Starbase

Excellent photo history of the rapid development of this spaceshipyard and launch site

This article has quite a bit of photojournalism of the development of the South Texas launch site, particularly over 2019 to early July 2020. Aerial photos of SpaceX's Starship site reveal the stunning evolution of its Mars-rocket facility amid a South Texas beach community, Dave Mosher, Business Insider, 10 July 2020. Could be quite useful to improving the quality of the article. N2e (talk) 05:29, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

@N2e: recent CC satellite photo TGCP (talk) 17:50, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Officiality of the "Starbase" name

@Rosbif73: Let's completely forget about Boca Chica Village for just a moment and focus on the actual subject of this article; the launch site itself. Does a company labeling their private property a certain name – in this case, SpaceX referring to their launch site in Cameron County as "Starbase" – not make said name official? In what situation would a name given to a private property by its owner not be, by definition, official? — Molly Brown (talk) 03:20, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

I don't think you can forget about Boca Chica Village in this case. It has been clearly announced that "Starbase" is the future name of the city that Elon hopes to incorporate (and thus not the name of the launch site alone). The fact that SpaceX are using the name already doesn't make it any more official. In any case, saying "referred to by SpaceX as" is indisputably correct, whereas "officially named" is debatable. Rosbif73 (talk) 10:03, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

@Rosbif73: If "Starbase" is not the name of the launch site, then why on the "Mission" page on SpaceX's website do they refer to the Boca Chica launch site as "Starbase" and the other three launch sites by their official names – "Cape Canaveral Space Force Station", "Kennedy Space Center", and "Vandenberg Air Force Base" – and not by their locales – "Cape Canaveral", "Merritt Island", and "Lompoc" – like you insist the "Starbase" name exclusively refers to? It's clear that the word "Starbase" in a list of launch sites refers to a launch site and not a locale. — Molly Brown (talk) 13:05, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

FAA names the site Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County. --Robertiki (talk) 19:58, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

I would say WP:COMMONNAME applies here. It seems it is mostly referred to in media as Starbase or Boca Chica. 101.98.135.42 (talk) 04:13, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

Requested move 16 May 2021

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Not moved. (non-admin closure) (t · c) buidhe 13:14, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

---

SpaceX South Texas launch site → Starbase – SpaceX put up a large sign with text "STARBASE" today, so presumably Starbase is the common name of the site now. Want to assess community opinion on whether we should rename this article to "Starbase". osunpokeh (talk) 07:08, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

• Oppose. Target name is already in established use as an off-planet base station in fiction. JIP | Talk 15:13, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose. Even if it were the common name, the launch site is not the primary topic. -- Calidum 15:25, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
• Move to Starbase, Texas. Rreagan007 (talk) 18:25, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

  I assume those at WP:USPLACE would instead prefer a parenthetical disambiguation of Starbase (Texas) instead of comma-separated because the base is not a city or community. Zzyzx11 (talk) 18:36, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

  Hmm, maybe I spoke too hastily. I wasn't aware of the current redirect. How about moving it to SpaceX Starbase. Rreagan007 (talk) 18:53, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

If it becomes a city, it won't all belong to SpaceX, so Starbase (Texas) looks to be preferable to me, until it becomes an officially recognised location when Starbase, Texas might then be better. C-randles (talk) 21:51, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

There seem to be two different concepts here. The general area which may eventually be incorporated as Starbase, Texas and the SpaceX launch site that they seem to be calling a "Starbase". As such, for this particular article, I think "SpaceX Starbase" would still be appropriate. Rreagan007 (talk) 22:47, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

Why does SpaceX have trouble naming things? Starbase, Starbase?? address being launch site and city? Starship stage 2 or whole thing?? Maybe we should wait for clarity but OTOH maybe that wont come quickly. C-randles (talk) 12:23, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

• Comment. Maybe Starbase (Texas), but then again the same WP:COMMONAME issues with Talk:Boca Chica Village, Texas#Requested move 3 March 2021, and the current Starbase, Texas redirect to Boca Chica (Texas)#"Starbase", Texas, may also come into play. Zzyzx11 (talk) 18:31, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose Starbase (Edit Starbase (Texas) ) is intended to be a city/municipality much larger than Boca Chica and while it would include the launch facility it is not just the launch facility. What is described as just a "casual enquiry" is not very far along the way towards to forming a city. Even if it is the common-name, it should be separate article not this one moved. C-randles (talk) 20:45, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
  • Comment: "Starbase" is an established term in fiction and the current redirect already gets quite many incoming links about fiction. Whatever gets moved should instead go to Starbase (Texas). JIP | Talk 21:30, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose: WP:TOOSOON: Any move should wait until "Starbase" has become either the WP:OFFICIALNAME or the WP:COMMONNAME, or preferably both. Today it is neither. Rosbif73 (talk) 07:01, 17 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose, because I believe Starbase launch site is a better fit. As noted by those above, Starbase, Texas is a completely different concept, and this article is about merely a launch site within that completely theoretical future city. SpaceX have referred to the launch site exclusively as "Starbase" since March though, which contradicts Rosbif73's claim that it isn't the official name (WP:OFFICIALNAME). Press releases for the flights of SN11 and SN15 have named the launch site as "Starbase", while press releases for the flights of SN10 and previous have simply referred to it as "our site in Cameron County". In addition, on their "Mission" page, what they used to call the "South Texas launch site" is now simply "Starbase" too. I think it is important we incorporate the "Starbase" name into the title accordingly, but leave the "launch site" qualifier as a natural disambiguation from other similarly-titled articles (WP:QUALIFIER). — Molly Brown (talk) 13:30, 17 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose — I suspect the common name for the south Texas launch site and rocket stage factory will eventually emerge to something other than the current article name. However, it is too soon to know what that will be. So far, in news accounts, and in media sites, the word "Starbase" is already meaning more than one thing: both a large part of the Boca Chica (Texas) subdelta peninsula that may or may not be incorporated as a Texas city at some future time, and also the name SpaceX is using for their several industrial complexes located on the eastern portion of that peninsula (their build site near the village of Boca Chica, and their launch site two miles east on the Gulf coast). This is like many words in English; terms can have more than one sense. Eventually, common usage will emerge and Wikipedia will have some way to disambiguate each of the various usages of the term "Starbase." That may be in a few months; or not. It is just not now. N2e (talk) 14:29, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

  Support StarshipSLS (Talk), (My Contributions) 15:26, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

• Oppose this does not seem the primary topic, especially considering its decades long use in fiction. There's also the WP:RECENTISM of this recent renaming. One could make the case that perhaps the disambiguation page Starbase (disambiguation) could be at the base location -- 67.70.27.180 (talk) 23:04, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose - Blatant case of WP:RECENTISM and WP:TOOSOON, to say the least. This doesn't conform to WP:COMMONNAME or WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. Would suggest a WP:SNOW closure. HumanBodyPiloter5 (talk) 10:50, 21 May 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose - too early to tell if Starbase will stick as the common name, even too early to know if Starbase will refer to just the launch site or a larger area. Ultimograph5 (talk) 04:25, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Sources for future use in naming discussions

I lodged a !vote of "oppose" to the recent name change proposal, and continue to think it is too soon to rename the article. Still, it is probably useful to begin to collect mainline media (secondary) sources that we run into that use various terms. I'll start. N2e (talk) 03:05, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

• Source uses "Starbase": Starbase to Mars, 21 May 2021, CBS4 : a one hour news program from the local CBS affiliate station, referring to Musk said "Starbase is the city he is building" (at 15:32) and also" called just the launch and build site "Starbase ... is a manufacturing and flight test facility" (@18:33)
• Source usage of "Starbase" TBD: A Serene Shore Resort, Except for the SpaceX ‘Ball of Fire’, New York Times, 22 May 2021.
• Source uses "Starbase": Musk Wins SpaceX Starbase Land Dispute in Texas Regulator Vote, Bloomberg News, 3 August 2021.
• Source uses both "Starbase" (the SpaceX place) and "Starbase, Texas" (which does not yet formally/legally exist as a locality in Texas) : 'Dream come true:’ SpaceX's Starbase in Texas is a flashback to 1960s Florida, Florida Today, 16 AUgust 2021.

Comment on naming and potential disambiguation

whenver it is to be renamed it would never be renamed to "Starbase" without qualification as a primary topic. It would need disambiguation. Since the real estate development outside the launch site is also called "Starbase", it isn't simply slapping a "SpaceX" or "Texas" onto it, since the real estate development is also by SpaceX in Texas. It could be Starbase (SpaceX spaceport) or Starbase (Texas spaceport) though, as fictional starbases are usually fictional spaceports. The real estate development (future city) outside of the spaceport could then be called Starbase (subdivision) or Starbase (unincorporated community) -- 67.70.27.180 (talk) 03:42, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

Old oil and gas lease on SpaceX property

Texas oil regulators issued a decision today in the issue of the (very) old oil and gas lease on some of the land that SpaceX has purchased and has been using for some time in the Boca Chica build facility. Musk Wins SpaceX Starbase Land Dispute in Texas Regulator Vote, Bloomberg News, 3 August 2021. Might be useful for the article if this dispute ever makes it into the article historical prose. Will definitely be useful if the losing side decides to take it further in the court system. Cheers. N2e (talk) 01:42, 4 August 2021 (UTC)