SpaceX to build $100 billion Starship rocket complex in Louisiana

SpaceX unveiled plans on Tuesday to build its largest rocket launch complex in Louisiana, a 100-billion-dollar effort to transform coastal wetlands into a base for the company’s Starship and AI satellite launch.

The site, named Starbase Louisiana, is an expansion of the company’s Starship launch operations beyond South Texas and those planned for Florida. This will be the fourth launch site of the company in the US, covering over 50,000 hectares in the coastal wetlands of southern Louisiana.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on social media that the Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day, and making it the biggest launch site on earth.

The company has also reached an agreement with the Louisiana state government, which has approved substantial tax incentives for the project.

Governor of Louisiana JEFF LANDRY: “This project means more than just steel technology and capital, it represents jobs for our families. It represents momentum for our communities, and it represents projection for our coast.”

Environmental groups are raising concerns about wetland loss in the area since Starship launches in Texas have blasted shorebirds and their nests with gravel and debris.

SpaceX, however, says “very large portions” of the land will remain natural with no infrastructure, and the company will help fund environmental “protection, restoration, and stewardship” while the launch site is constructed.

SpaceX says construction will begin next year with the first Starship launch in 2029. It will eventually launch thousands of Starship flights a year, and will create more than 3,000 jobs to the region.