SpaceX intends to put as much as one hundred billion dollars into a new complex it calls Starbase Louisiana, Ars Technica reports. Governor Jeff Landry announced the commitment. The Louisiana site would make its own rocket fuel and electricity, handle deep-water shipping, process vehicles, and include an airport.
The land sits near Pecan Island and covers about one hundred twenty-five thousand acres. Construction of the first launch facilities is planned to start in 2027, with a first launch from the state targeted for 2029.
Why Louisiana, and what would be built
Starship burns methane, a gas that can be made near the Gulf. The site sits close to the Intracoastal Waterway, so hardware can move by barge, including from the Starfactory near Boca Chica in Texas. The coast faces south, which helps reach polar orbits. A polar orbit passes near the Earth’s poles; many of the satellites SpaceX wants for orbital data centers would use paths like that. From Louisiana, a Starship could reach such an orbit after a short pass over Mexico about a thousand miles downrange.
SpaceX now has one working Starship pad in Texas and others underway, including three at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Texas offers only about three hundred fifty acres and a single road that must still serve the public beach. Florida is crowded with other launch companies. SpaceX says it wants thousands of Starship flights a year, and later dozens a day, to build orbital data centers and for other work. Louisiana would give it more land and no local competition for range time.
The company promised at least three thousand local jobs, and as many as ten thousand, including welders and energy workers. Only a small share of the acreage would be built on, with the rest kept for wildlife and for fishing, hunting, and boating. The wetlands support many waterfowl and other animals, so environmental review will be a central test of whether the plan proceeds as described.