heels of a settlement<\/a> between the state and ExxonMobil in dozens of lawsuits brought by parishes alleging that the oil company polluted the state\u2019s coastline and contributed to its land loss crisis.<\/p>\nExxonMobil owns 136,000 acres of Vermilion Parish property in and around Pecan Island that an aerospace company, widely believed to be SpaceX, is in the process of acquiring, according to a state legislator and other sources familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n
![\"SpaceX](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
This image taken from NASA video shows the SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (NASA via AP)<\/p>\n
HOGP<\/p>\n
Landry has previously confirmed a settlement in the costal suits but has not discussed specific terms of the deal. Louisiana Economic Development has declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, SpaceX notified regulators that it intends to launch up to 1 million low-Earth orbit satellites into space \u2014 an exponential increase in its capacity that will require more launch pads.<\/p>\n
In a post on Musk\u2019s social media platform X in May, SpaceX confirmed it is looking to expand, though it stopped short of naming a specific location.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no secret that we intend to launch Starship a lot, targeting thousands of flights per year,\u201d the post said, referring to its powerful, reusable rocket. \u201cThat cadence will require the ability to launch from many different locations, so we are constantly exploring to find viable sites to expand Starship operations in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A view from Freshwater City Road, south of Pecan Island in\u00a0Vermilion Parish, where at least one commercial space company is in talks with large landowners to purchase property.<\/p>\n
By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer<\/p>\n
Experts say sleepy Pecan Island, with a permanent population of about 100, would be attractive to an aerospace company because it is sparsely populated, is close to the Gulf and the Intracoastal Waterway and is midway between SpaceX facilities in Texas and Florida. It also has an abundance of natural gas and methane, needed fuel sources.<\/p>\n
Environmental concerns<\/p>\n
The new rules proposed by the FAA would \u201cwaive requirements of laws of the U.S. for a license or permit, after consultation with the head of the appropriate executive agency, when the requirement is not necessary to protect the public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States,” the text of the proposal reads, in part.<\/p>\n
Siversen Burke said the changes are unprecedented.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo administration has ever pulled this lever at scale that I am aware of \u2014 13 statutes at once,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, as speculation in Vermilion Parish builds about the proposed aerospace facility, locals have responded with mixed reactions, though elected officials have touted the potential economic benefits to an area that has continued to lose jobs and young people in recent decades.<\/p>\n
They have remained largely silent on the issue of what such a facility would mean to the fragile coast, which has lost miles to erosion over the years, and the abundant wildlife \u2014 fish, waterfowl and migratory birds that have made Pecan Island a popular spot destination for sport fishing and seasonal hunting.<\/p>\n
Siversen Burke said the changes for a place like Pecan Island would likely be \u201ctragic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, a proposed spaceport on coastal marsh would trigger an environmental impact statement, wetlands dredge-and-fill review, consistency with Louisiana’s coastal program, Gulf fisheries consultation, and an Endangered Species Act consultation \u201cthat would put the whooping crane up against Elon,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Under the proposed rules, she said, \u201cit all goes away with an FAA license.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk after Musk speaks on stage at a Trump campaign event on Oct. 5, 2024.<\/p>\n
Photo by Alex Brandon \/ AP Photo<\/p>\n
As news of the proposed rule changes trickled out Thursday, environmental groups around the country began responding.<\/p>\n
Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the trade publication FLYING that the White House “wants to gut even the most basic environmental safeguards to enrich some of the world’s wealthiest people.”<\/p>\n
“We’ve seen real environmental damage from the exploding rocket toys of the super-rich,” he said. “You can be damn sure we’ll fight this obscene giveaway to special interests.”<\/p>\n
A 30-day public comment period on the proposed rules expires Aug. 30, after which time the FAA decides whether to implement the changes.<\/p>\n
Adam Daigle contributed reporting to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing sweeping rule changes that would allow aerospace companies seeking to launch rockets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[8803,79,193],"class_list":["post-795536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-hardwall","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}