SpaceX outlines $100 billion Louisiana Starbase for Starship launches
SpaceX has announced plans to build a second Starbase spaceport for Starship launches at a former Exxon property in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. The company says it will invest $100 billion in the Gulf Coast facility, about 10 hours from its existing South Texas Starbase complex, and begin construction in 2027.
SpaceX targets the first Starship launch from the Louisiana site for 2029. Louisiana Economic Development (LED) gives a more cautious schedule: construction is expected to start by the end of 2027, with initial operations coming online in 2030.
A launch site built around Starship operations
SpaceX describes the planned facility as a self-sustaining spaceport. Its proposed infrastructure includes propellant production, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities and an airport. The development would therefore extend beyond a conventional launch pad into a large industrial and logistics operation.
LED says the project is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs over 10 years, with an average annual salary of $92,600. More than 30,000 construction jobs are projected at the peak of the buildout. SpaceX has not said whether it will develop a municipality around the new site comparable to the Texas community renamed Starbase.
Schedule rests on reusability milestones
The expansion is being planned while Starship remains in flight development. SpaceX has conducted 13 Starship test flights since 2023. An upcoming 14th flight could send the 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 mission.
That capability is central to Starship’s intended reusability. SpaceX must also demonstrate that the vehicle can be refurbished quickly enough to support its stated ambition of flying multiple Starships each week. Elon Musk has said the Falcon rocket family will be retired once Starship reaches that flight rate.
Starship is important to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business and to its plans for a dedicated satellite network for AI processing. The company has spent more than $8 billion developing the rocket, based on filings submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The broader capital commitments behind Starship also feature in SpaceX IPO, AI and Starship investment plans as the company positions the vehicle for future launch and orbital infrastructure needs.
Environmental and safety questions remain
LED says SpaceX has engaged the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and other state agencies on potential effects on wildlife, fisheries and supporting habitats. The company also says it is working with state and federal agencies on coastal projects, including shoreline breakwaters intended to reduce wave energy and erosion.
The announcement comes with scrutiny of conditions at the Texas Starbase site, where SpaceX has reported hundreds of injuries to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration over the past decade. A construction worker employed by a third-party contractor died after a fall there in May. For businesses assessing the Louisiana project, the key implication is that its employment and logistics potential will depend on Starship meeting reusability goals while construction, safety and environmental commitments progress on the stated timetable.