Elon Musk admits challenges in relocating engineers to SpaceX’s Texas ‘Technology Monastery’

SpaceX and Tesla both initially established in California before relocating their headquarters to Texas — a decision Elon Musk acknowledges has posed a hiring obstacle.

Musk, serving as the CEO of both organisations, pointed out that married technicians, engineers, and scientists find it difficult to relocate their families to specific areas of the state. 

The issue is most pronounced at SpaceX's South Texas launch site and headquarters, known as Starbase.

"I refer to it as the 'significant other' dilemma," Musk shared during an almost three-hour discussion with tech podcaster Dwarkesh Patel and Stripe's cofounder John Collison, published on Thursday. "Especially at Starbase, it's been particularly challenging, as the chance of finding a non-SpaceX job is fairly slim."

Starbase — where SpaceX has constructed and tested its rockets since 2019 — is located in a sparsely inhabited part of Texas, near the US‑Mexico border. 

The campus is about a 40‑minute drive from Brownsville, the closest city, according to Google Maps. Brownsville has an estimated population of 187,000, based on the latest US Census data.

This isolation contrasts sharply with SpaceX's previous headquarters in El Segundo, California, which is mere minutes from Los Angeles and is part of one of the nation's largest employment markets.

While Tesla relocated its headquarters from California to Austin in 2021, Musk noted they encounter a similar — but less intense — issue.

The car manufacturer's campus, named Giga Texas, is about a 30-minute drive from downtown Austin, which is home to nearly a million residents. 

Additionally, while most of Tesla's senior executives have moved to Texas, the electric vehicle (EV) company still maintains various robotics, energy, and manufacturing operations in California.

Musk, who anticipates Austin will be "the biggest boomtown America has seen in the last 50 years," is working on expanding his company campuses, including a corporate town labeled "Snailbrook" near The Boring Company and SpaceX.