Elon Musk said Tuesday he will move his SpaceX aerospace company from Hawthorne to Texas in protest of a state law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that prevents California schools from notifying parents if their children identify as transgender.
“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote on X, his social media platform. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”
He added in a subsequent post: “I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from media outlets.
California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher responded to Musk’s move by blasting Newsom.
“With the highest unemployment rate in the nation, you’d think our governor would be doing everything possible to protect jobs,” Gallagher wrote in a statement. “Instead, he’s pandering to extremists in his party by cutting parents out of their kids’ education and driving even more businesses to pack up for other states.”
Musk also moving X headquarters out of San Francsico
Musk later announced that he would also move X’s headquarters out of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.
“Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building,” Musk wrote.
Representatives for the city of Hawthorne could not be immediately reached for comment on Musk’s plans to move SpaceX.
Newsom signed AB 1955 on Monday, which bars school districts and teachers from notifying parents and families if their children begin identifying as a different gender. Backers of the legislation said it will prevent “forced outing” of students to parents who may not support their children.
The bill also requires the state to provide resources to parents and students about how to discuss issues of gender identity.
The legislation was prompted by actions of select districts in the state, including one in Temecula, that enacted policies requiring teachers to notify parents about gender-questioning students. Backers of such policies said parents are entitled to be informed about issues involving their children’s health and education.
SpaceX, founded by Musk in 2002, has been a revolutionary force in the space industry, pioneering the re-use of multimillion-dollar rocket boosters to cut the cost of aerospace missions dramatically.
The company has earned multiple contracts from NASA for conducting resupply missions to the International Space Station and transporting astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost with its Crew Dragon capsules. SpaceX is also working with NASA as part of the ambitious Artemis program to establish a base on the moon, with the larger goal of using the base as a possible launch point for manned missions to Mars.
Musk previously moved Tesla headquarters to Texas from California
In 2021, Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin, Texas, in the wake of California’s coronavirus lockdowns. Tesla has a large manufacturing facility in nearby Fremont.
In April, Musk announced plans to lay off nearly 2,700 workers at its Austin, Texas factory in June after slumping sales. Tesla has around 140,000 employees. SpaceX has 9,500 employees. Twitter currently has around 1,000 full-time employees.
Texas reacts to Musk’s headquarter move
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott quickly responded to Musk’s vow to move the company, writing on X, “This cements Texas as the leader in space exploration.”
SpaceX already has significant operations in Texas, where it is developing its massive Starship vehicle—billed as the most powerful rocket ever flown—for use in the Artemis program and human/cargo missions to Mars.
Musk and his companies do not respond to media inquiries, so questions about how X and SpaceX will respond to concerns from employees about Texas’ restrictions on reproductive health that have led to an increase in infant mortality in the state have not been addressed.
California Connect editor James Ward contributed to this article.
