SpaceX has unveiled plans to build its largest rocket launch complex in southern Louisiana.
The $100 billion (€85.68bn) facility is planned to transform coastal wetlands into a critical base for the company’s Starship and AI satellite launch ambitions.
The 50,585-hectare site on Pecan Island, which SpaceX named Starbase Louisiana, will become SpaceX’s fourth launch site in the US.
The Starbase campus will eventually launch thousands of Starship flights a year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said.
Construction on the marshland site, which is more than eight times the size of Manhattan, will begin next year with the first Starship launch in 2029, SpaceX said.
The “self-sustaining” spaceport envisioned by SpaceX will include its own methane production for propellant, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities and possibly an airport, according to Ms Shotwell.
SpaceX said that ‘large portions’ of the land will remain natural wetlands with no infrastructure.
An animated SpaceX video shows the area dotted with several launchpads surrounded by greenery.
SpaceX said the site will add more than 3,000 jobs to the region
The site was at the centre of a decade-long legal battle involving Exxon Mobil, after local parishes alleged the oil giant’s coastal drilling and canal dredging contributed to the state’s wetland loss.
According to court documents, the state reached an agreement with Exxon to settle the lawsuit in June, prompting its dismissal the following month.
The case cleared the way for SpaceX’s plans for a launch site on the 29-km coastal strip, which the company had been discussing with the state since February, Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has significantly expanded its southern US footprint in recent years, having built Colossus AI data centres in Tennessee and Mississippi and Starlink facilities in Austin, Texas.
“This project means more than just steel, technology and capital,” Mr Landry said.
“It represents jobs for our families. It represents momentum for our communities and it represents protection for our coast.”
SpaceX said the Louisiana site will add more than 3,000 jobs to the region.
The governor’s office said those jobs are expected to pay an average salary of $92,600, which is 192% higher than the average local wage.