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Starbase Louisiana unveiled
SpaceX announced it will invest $100 billion to build Starbase, Louisiana, a spaceport in Vermilion Parish on the Louisiana Gulf Coast that the company said will be its fourth and largest launch facility.
“SpaceX is building its largest-ever spaceport on Louisiana's Gulf Coast”
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first launch targeted for as early as 2029, and the project is planned to include five launch complexes with two launch pads each plus a propellant farm.
Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will create 3,000 direct jobs over the next 10 years, paying an average annual salary of $92,600, and generate more than 8,100 indirect jobs.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a statement, "We're preparing to build a spaceport that, until now, has only existed in science fiction," and the announcement said Starbase Louisiana will unlock that future.
The deal also includes a $25 million charitable donation to the Community Foundation of Acadiana and a requirement that SpaceX pay Vermilion Parish $25 million annually for 25 years, with an escalator clause, plus a $20 million upfront payment.
Jobs, incentives, and politics
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry described the investment as a major turning point, saying it would place the state at the forefront of the next era of spaceflight, while Anadolu Ajansı said the project is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs over the next decade.
The Center Square reported that Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, carried House Bill 1088, now Act 190, creating a new state and local sales tax rebate specifically for large aerospace facilities that must pledge at least $1 billion in capital investment and 200 permanent jobs.
The Center Square also said SpaceX is expected to use the newly created program, and it described additional state measures including Act 343, which gives aerospace entities a special procedure to seek early dismissal and allows the prevailing party to recover attorney fees and costs.
In a separate local account, KATC said the announcement came during an Abbeville press conference where Landry asked, "Well, Vermilion Parish, what do you think?" and Musk said the project would be named "Starbase Louisiana."
Quartz reported that Louisiana offered SpaceX an incentives package contingent on capital investment and job creation, and it said the state required a $25 million charitable donation to the Community Foundation of Acadiana.
Where it lands, what’s at stake
The spaceport is planned near Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish, with The Center Square saying the campus would be near Pecan Island where five launch complexes containing two pads each are planned, and NOLA placing the tract about 10 miles south of Pecan Island.
“The land is part of a broader 125,000-acre site”
NOLA said the land is part of a broader 125,000-acre site sandwiched between two wildlife refuges that was owned for more than 70 years by ExxonMobil, and it reported that the state sold the land to SpaceX for $100 million, or about $800 an acre.
The Center Square warned that commercial launch and spaceport operations require Federal Aviation Administration authorization, and it said FAA licensing can trigger federal environmental review as well as examinations of public safety and financial responsibility.
CNBC reported that SpaceX said it would work on a "historic coastal restoration" in Louisiana, in partnership with the state to "bring the marsh back" and ensure the wetlands around its new facility will have "storm protection."
Quartz added that SpaceX said it has engaged the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to address potential environmental impacts, while the project’s scale is tied to Starship and thousands of launches each year.