Abel Avellan is taking on SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper in the battle to provide broadband satellite internet directly to your smartphone.

He hasn't colonised Mars yet, but he's just created his own town in the United States.Elon Musk is turning his Boca Chica space base in Texas (where the Starship rocket launches) into the second private municipality in America, after Irvine in California, according to Le Figaro. And in this self-contained city, no municipal team is elected.It's worth noting that the 300 employees at the base almost unanimously approved this project."Starbase", the townAt the end of 2024, the world's richest man had submitted his request to local authorities (who happen to be Republican) to turn the Texas site into a real town, covering an area of 4km2. It's named "Starbase", just like his space base. In his application, he highlighted that SpaceX was already managing health and education services as well as infrastructure on the site.A success for MuskSo it's confirmed, Musk will be free to develop his activities there without any municipal opposition. A victory for the billionaire who, for now, is experiencing quite a few setbacks, particularly with his company, Tesla.In Boca Chica, however, environmentalists do not look favourably on this project. Several are mobilising, fearing that the natural areas near the base might be damaged.(MH with Olivia Stasse - Source: Le Figaro - Illustration: ©Unsplash)