SpaceX announced a $100 billion investment to build its largest spaceport yet in coastal Louisiana. The new facility, named Starbase Louisiana, will cover approximately 125,000 acres on Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish. Construction is set to begin in 2027, with the first launch planned for as early as 2029, marking a major expansion in SpaceX's infrastructure to support its Starship program and satellite manufacturing, according to fortune.com.
The spaceport will be the fourth launch complex for SpaceX and is designed to include five launch facilities, each with two launch pads. Additional infrastructure will feature propellant farms, a propellant-production facility, power generation, vehicle-processing facilities, and housing for employees and their families. Elon Musk described Starbase Louisiana as potentially the world’s largest spaceport, capable of supporting more than 30 Starship flights per day, as he shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
This expansion aligns with SpaceX’s long-term goals of advancing space travel and establishing human settlements on Mars, ambitions Musk reiterated during the company’s first earnings call. The scale of the investment and the planned launch capacity position Starbase Louisiana as a significant development in the aerospace sector. It surpasses previous SpaceX facilities in size and capability, underscoring the company’s commitment to scaling its Starship program and satellite production to meet growing demand.
Louisiana Economic Development has described the project as potentially the world’s largest spaceport. The facility’s construction start in 2027 and the targeted first launch in 2029 set clear milestones for this multibillion-dollar expansion, which will play a critical role in SpaceX’s efforts to increase launch frequency and support future space missions.