SpaceX unveils $100bn rocket complex plan in Louisiana

SpaceX has announced plans to build what it says will be its largest rocket launch complex in southern Louisiana. The proposed site, named Starbase Louisiana, would be built on Pecan Island in coastal wetlands and would become the company's fourth launch site in the United States. The project is described as a $100 billion facility and is intended to support Starship launches and AI satellite missions.

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The company said construction is due to begin next year, with the first Starship launch targeted for 2029. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the campus is expected eventually to support thousands of Starship flights a year. The planned complex would include methane production for propellant, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities and possibly an airport.

SpaceX also said large portions of the land would remain natural wetlands without infrastructure. The announcement comes after a long legal dispute over wetland loss in the area. Court documents show that the state reached an agreement with Exxon Mobil in June to settle a lawsuit brought by local parishes, and the case was dismissed the following month.

Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said SpaceX had been discussing the launch site with the state since February, indicating the project had already been under consideration for several months before the public announcement. The plan is significant because it would add a major new launch hub to SpaceX's expanding US footprint. The company has already built Colossus AI data centres in Tennessee and Mississippi and Starlink facilities in Austin, Texas, showing a broader pattern of investment in infrastructure linked to its space and satellite businesses.

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In Louisiana, the governor's office said the project would create more than 3,000 jobs, with an average salary of $92,600, which it said is far above the local average wage. The site itself is notable for its scale and location. At 50,585 hectares, it is more than eight times the size of Manhattan, according to the company's description.

SpaceX said the campus is designed as a self-sustaining spaceport, which suggests a long-term industrial presence rather than a single launch pad. That scale also raises questions about how the project will interact with the state's coastal environment, even as the company says much of the land will remain wetlands. What remains unclear is how quickly the project can move from announcement to construction and whether the timeline to a 2029 launch will hold.

It is also not yet clear how the planned infrastructure will be approved, built and integrated with the surrounding coastal area. For now, the announcement marks a major step in SpaceX's effort to expand launch capacity, but the practical and environmental details will be watched closely in the months ahead.

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