Texas denies plan to sell Boca Chica State Park to SpaceX
Gov. Abbott says a SpaceX sale of the 1,300-acre park 'is not coming up for a vote anytime soon' after Texas Monthly's report.
updates
- 2026-10-31Texas's parks agency is fighting to withhold the draft commission agenda on the Boca Chica sale from an open-records request, while SpaceX's Starbase has separately annexed about 7,100 acres around the park.
what happened
Texas Monthly reported on October 16 that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had discussed selling the 1,300-acre Boca Chica State Park, adjacent to SpaceX's Starbase, to the company, with the sale slated for a closed-door executive session on the Parks and Wildlife Commission's November 5 agenda. After Texas Monthly's inquiries, the agency said it was 'not considering the sale' at that meeting, and the item was removed from the agenda. Governor Greg Abbott told reporters on October 19 that 'that's not coming up for a vote anytime soon,' while saying he was unaware of the department's prior discussions. The Texas Tribune reported October 31 that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is fighting to withhold the draft commission agenda that included the Boca Chica discussion from an open-records request the Tribune filed October 19, asking the state Attorney General's office to let it withhold the document under an exemption for internal deliberations; agency attorney Eric Trimble argued the draft is 'inextricably linked' to the commission's policymaking functions. The Tribune reported that SpaceX's city of Starbase has separately annexed about 7,100 acres, putting much of the state park under municipal oversight led by SpaceX employees, and that Abbott, who appoints the department's commissioners and has received campaign contributions from Musk, would not commit to ruling out a future sale.
why it matters
Boca Chica State Park's beaches and wetlands sit next to Starbase and have already been the subject of beach-closure litigation. A sale to SpaceX, even one now shelved, would hand the company more direct control over land bordering its launch site; the denial does not rule out a future attempt, and Abbott's admitted unfamiliarity with the department's internal discussions leaves open how far talks had actually progressed. The department's fight to keep the draft agenda itself secret, and Starbase's separate annexation of thousands of acres around the park, suggest the company's footprint keeps expanding even while the specific park sale stays denied.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- SpaceX
- Category
- regulatory
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-20
- Published
- 2026-10-20 22:13 UTC