SpaceX will build a $100 billion spaceport in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, on a former Exxon property along the Gulf Coast, committing to what would become the primary launch facility for its Starship rocket and the company’s fourth launch site overall.
The announcement, made Tuesday by SpaceX and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, ended a seven-year search for a suitable location with enough room for multiple launch towers and access to the methane propellant that fuels Starship. SpaceX said construction would begin in 2027, with the first Starship launch targeted for 2029. Louisiana Economic Development, the state’s business development agency, offered a more conservative timeline, saying construction would start by the end of 2027 with initial operations coming online in 2030. The facility would support thousands of launches annually, according to the Louisiana Economic Development office.
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said the “Starbase Louisiana” facility would become a self-sustaining spaceport with propellant production, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and an airport on site. “This will be a project like no other,” she said during a project announcement in Abbeville, a Louisiana town of about 12,000 people near the coastal wetlands.
The site gives SpaceX what its existing locations cannot. The Starbase Texas facility encompasses only about 350 acres, and SpaceX must maintain public access to Boca Chica Beach along a single roadway. Florida’s Cape Canaveral, where three more pads are being built, is land-constrained and shared with a half-dozen other private launch companies competing for range access. In Louisiana, SpaceX would face no such competition.
Elon Musk said in a video posted to SpaceX’s website that the company would bring “probably 10,000 really exciting jobs” to Louisiana. The state’s fact sheet offered different figures: 3,000 direct new jobs over the next 10 years, with an average annual salary of $92,600, and 8,100 indirect new jobs. More than 30,000 construction jobs are expected at the peak of the buildout. SpaceX stock rose about 2% to close at $137.95.
Environmental and regulatory backdrop
The announcement follows years of environmental problems at SpaceX’s first Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. In April 2023, energy from Starship’s first test flight caused the concrete launchpad to explode and the spacecraft to blow up in midair. Chunks of concrete were flung into a nesting and migration site important to endangered species, and a fire burned through about four acres of Boca Chica State Park land. In 2024, a state agency found that SpaceX had violated the Clean Water Act by repeatedly releasing pollutants into or near bodies of water through its water deluge system. The Texas site is the most dangerous SpaceX operates, with hundreds of injuries reported to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration over the last decade. In May, a construction worker employed by a third-party contractor fell to his death at Starbase.
In Louisiana, SpaceX said it has already engaged the state’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and other agencies to address potential impacts to wildlife and habitats. The company said it would work on a “historic coastal restoration” to “bring the marsh back” and ensure storm protection for wetlands around the facility. Earlier this year, Governor Landry signed bills that became law in May, exempting some aerospace projects in Louisiana from public review, making unauthorized entry into a spaceport a felony, and offering financial incentives to aerospace manufacturers.
Starship’s unproven promise
The Louisiana bet rests on a rocket that has not yet proven itself. SpaceX has conducted 13 test flights of Starship since 2023 and has spent more than $8 billion developing the vehicle, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. An upcoming 14th test flight could send Starship’s upper stage to orbit for the first time. But the company has yet to return both the booster and upper stage to the launch pad on a single flight, a basic requirement for full reusability. Even then, SpaceX must show it can refurbish the vehicle quickly enough to reach its own goal of sending up multiple Starships per week.
Musk said this past week that he will retire the Falcon rockets once Starship is flying multiple times per week, confirming earlier Bloomberg reporting that SpaceX was already telling prospective customers about the impending end of the Falcon program. Starship is crucial to maintaining and growing Starlink, the only profitable part of SpaceX’s business, and the company also plans to use it to launch a network of satellites dedicated to AI processing. Those ambitions, and the justification for SpaceX’s nearly $2 trillion market cap, hinge on Starship’s success.
The local welcome was warm. Vermilion Parish Police Jury President Chad Vallo said in a statement, “We are very excited to be in this position to receive one of the best opportunities of a lifetime which will bring not only a variety of jobs to our Parish but will offer opportunities to our grandchildren allowing them to stay home for employment.”