SpaceX unveils plans for $100 billion spaceport in Louisiana
SpaceX on Tuesday unveiled plans to construct a massive, $100 billion spaceport in Louisiana, where the company plans to launch its gargantuan Starship rocket thousands of times per year, reports BritPanorama.
Construction of the spaceport is expected to begin by the end of 2026 near the southern coast of Louisiana’s Vermilion Parish, with the first launch targeted as soon as 2029, according to an economic development website.
Such a development represents a dramatic shift for SpaceX and the US rocket industry, making Louisiana, which has never before hosted an orbital launch, potentially the busiest launch hub on the planet.
The new SpaceX campus will be dubbed “Starbase, Louisiana,” borrowing the name of SpaceX’s recently incorporated company town in South Texas. Starbase, Texas, is currently home to Starship’s testing and development facilities and has seen 13 test flights launched with varying degrees of success.
Once operational, the Louisiana location will host flights of the Starship rocket, having demonstrated its capability to safely haul cargo to orbit. SpaceX plans to land and recover every component of its Starship rockets, including the upper spacecraft, which has not been done before, aiming to allow for rapid reuse and lower costs for each launch.
This means Louisiana would not only become a hub for launches but also host numerous tall towers to recapture rockets and spacecraft returning from space.
“Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day, making it the biggest launch site on Earth!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on his social media platform, X, on Tuesday.
During an announcement event in Louisiana, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, described the project as “a self-sustaining spaceport with its own propellant production, power generation, deep water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and probably an airport.”
Lousiana’s ‘worst kept secret’
SpaceX had been quietly working on its spaceport plans alongside Louisiana elected officials for months. Company leaders scouted potential locations, prompting one local news outlet to describe the project as the state’s “worst kept secret.”
State governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, framed the project as an offer of “a permanent future and lasting prosperity.”
“For generations, industries came to Louisiana not to build lasting prosperity, but to extract wealth,” Landry stated. “Too often, Louisiana was left with the scars, while others enjoyed the profit. Today, what Elon Musk and his team is offering Louisiana is different.”
Many details of the plans remain to be determined. Starship is not yet operational, with the company expected to launch its most important test flight to date as early as September—a mission that may send the rocket to orbit for the first time. Additional testing will be necessary to resolve how the rocket’s upper stage can be landed and reused.
A spaceport of such size and scale will likely face extensive regulatory reviews. “The project will go through all applicable environmental, wetlands, natural resource and launch-related reviews,” confirms a project website.
Reviews related to SpaceX’s facilities in Texas—a significantly smaller complex than the planned Louisiana site—took nearly a decade to complete. Local environmental advocacy groups continue to challenge the company in Texas courts over the impacts of rocket testing on the community.
Shotwell indicated on Tuesday that SpaceX plans to preserve “very large portions” of Starbase Louisiana’s 125,000 acres of land to ensure that high-value wetlands remain habitat and do not become infrastructure.
“We will help fund protection, restoration, and stewardship while we build,” Shotwell added.
The announcement underscores ongoing confidence in the transformational potential of Starship for SpaceX. The company has started phasing out the use of its Falcon 9 rockets, currently the most prolific launch vehicles in the world, in favour of using Starship for the majority of missions once it becomes operational.
Earlier on Tuesday, SpaceX’s vice president of launch, Kiko Dontchev, stated that a Falcon 9 rocket flying that morning would be the last to carry SpaceX Starlink satellites from Florida, home to the world’s busiest spaceport across Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Center.
“From here on, Starlink missions out of Florida will fly on Starship,” Dontchev confirmed. “The West Coast team will continue regularly launching Starlink from Vandenberg. Super proud of this incredible team. You’ve made Falcon 9 the most reliable launch vehicle in history. You also helped build the largest low-Earth orbit satellite constellation, providing connectivity to millions around the world, and you’ve set the foundation for what’s next.”
SpaceX’s plans include continuing to operate Starship out of Texas, with potential flights from Florida as soon as this year. The envisioned facilities in Louisiana would establish it as the largest operational base for the rocket.
