A Texas county’s bid to rename an unincorporated place “Starbase” in honor of the space exploration conducted by businessman Elon Musk’s SpaceX facility could be grounded by the federal policy concerning place names.
But the proposal presented to the federal Board on Geographic Names earlier this year by the Cameron County Commissioners Court could still bounce back. Last month, the federal board’s staff reported that the county has been asked “to address” questions about whether the “Starbase” proposal violates the federal commercial names rules.
In particular, the staff cited “concerns that the primary intent could be to promote a commercial enterprise,” according to the minutes of the June 13 meeting of the Board on Geographic Names’ Domestic Names Committee.
Supporters of the name change note how the area’s identity has already been shaped by the development of the SpaceX project.
