SpaceX presented on Tuesday plans to build what would be its largest rocket launch complex, in a $100 billion effort to transform coastal wetlands of Louisiana into a critical base for the company's Starship and AI satellite launch ambitions.
The 125,000-acre (50,585-hectare) site on Pecan Island, which SpaceX named "Starbase Louisiana," is an expansion of the company's Starship launch operations beyond South Texas and those planned for Florida as its next-generation rocket remains in late-stage development.
The company's second Starbase campus will eventually launch thousands of Starship flights a year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said, reiterating its goals for an ambitious cadence contingent on solving steep engineering challenges and regulatory hurdles.
Construction will begin next year with the first Starship launch in 2029, SpaceX said.
Shotwell detailed the plans near the proposed site in Louisiana's Vermilion Parish at an event with Governor Jeff Landry and other senior state officials.
