SpaceX Plans to Build a $100 Billion Spaceport In Louisiana (cnbc.com)
- Reference: 0185159684
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/08/25/2337244/spacex-plans-to-build-a-100-billion-spaceport-in-louisiana
- Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/25/spacex-louisiana-spaceport.html
> Once built, Starbase, LA will serve as the main launch facility for Starship, SpaceX's in-development rocket that's the largest ever built and designed to be fully reusable. Musk has aspirations to massively expand SpaceX's Starlink satellite network, to launch orbital data centers and to someday colonize Mars. Those ambitions, and justification for SpaceX's nearly $2 trillion market cap, hinge on the success of Starship.
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> SpaceX said, in a [2]video posted to its website on Tuesday, that the search for a site to build launch pads and have access to ample fuel for its operations took about seven years. Musk said in the video that the company would bring "probably 10,000 really exciting jobs" to Louisiana with the spaceport. A fact sheet [3]posted online by the state of Louisiana said SpaceX is expected to generate an estimated "3,000 direct new jobs over the next 10 years" in the state, and "8,100 indirect new jobs." 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."
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/25/spacex-louisiana-spaceport.html
[2] https://www.spacex.com/sites/starbase-la
[3] https://www.opportunitylouisiana.gov/spacex
This is great for polar launches in particular (Score:2)
Although the site provides a rather large range of launch inclinations, even down to ~25 degrees if you dogleg around the Florida keys, the real price here is polar launches. You launch South, and the booster comes in over open water for the catch. You wait 12 hours for the Earth to make half a rotation under your ship's orbit, and then you come in for a ship catch from the South, thus alleviating any problematic land overflights.
This is particularly interesting for shipping cargo to a South Polar Basin b
Nice choice Elmo (Score:2)
What with Louisiana's deep care for the environment, a little bit more....actually, a lot bit more pollution from Elmo will be welcome. Louisiana does not need any healthy residents as long as the money flows.
"built and designed to be fully reusable" (Score:2)
Oh I thought they were built and designed to explode?
Took 7 years but... (Score:2)
It wasn't 7 years to find the right spot. It was 7 years to realize Texas isn't as accommodating as he hoped, and he can buy off a broke state cheaper than a rich state. Of course, finding enough people to move to the Texan Everglades was easy compared to finding enough who will live in the bayous to run his steel penis rocket facilities.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know what you mean... I thought he was going to build a spaceport on Mars???
Re: (Score:2)
> steel penis
Angry inch Californian watching the cool shit not happen in California anymore.
Re: Took 7 years but... (Score:2)
He can rest easy with the knowledge that we're actively trying to make billionaires leave this state, which will somehow make things better here because reasons.
Re: (Score:2)
>> steel penis
> Angry inch Californian watching the cool shit not happen in California anymore.
How can I eloquently put this, while remaining on point.
California fucked itself. Hard.
Re: Took 7 years but... (Score:2)
That's an interesting theory considering SpaceX is still actively building new facilities in Texas, including what is the largest PCB factory in the world, and what will likely be the largest solar panel factory in the world.
I think it's more likely due to the fact that Louisiana just happens to have a big, wide open terrain much more suitable for a high-volume spaceport than Texas does. Starbase isn't intended to be high volume, it's intended for research and development.
I don't know if you've ever been ne
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> including what is the largest PCB factory in the world, and what will likely be the largest solar panel factory in the world
Don't forget the Terafab in Grimes TX.
Looking at the decision, it really makes a lot of sense. The coast of Louisiana has been a nexus of transport in the US since before it became the US. Obviously, there is the Gulf of America (hehe) plus the Mississippi river. That led to a convergence of several interstate roads. Plus, there is ample barely drained low value land with sparse population, and no risk that it will see a bunch of sub/exburbs sprout up in the foreseeable future. The state government,