PECAN ISLAND, United States — SpaceX plans to build a $100 billion launch facility in southern Louisiana.
The company announced the project on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, and expects its first Starship flight from the site in 2029.
Construction of the complex, called Starbase Louisiana, is scheduled to begin in 2027. At 125,000 acres, or about 50,585 hectares, it would become the largest launch site operated by Elon Musk’s rocket company.
The development will extend SpaceX’s launch infrastructure beyond its Texas headquarters and facilities in Florida.
According to the company, the Louisiana base will “support thousands of Starship flights a year with missions launching to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond”.
The proposed investment is equivalent to about £73 billion.
Thousands of Jobs Projected
SpaceX said the project would create more than 3,000 jobs in Louisiana.
The state’s economic development agency estimated that it could produce more than 8,100 additional jobs indirectly.
It said the average wage for employees at the base would be 192 per cent higher than the prevailing regional average.
“The historic project will establish Louisiana as a global hub for next-generation aerospace, with the capacity and infrastructure needed to dramatically increase launch frequency and expand access to space,” the agency said.
The employment and wage figures are projections based on the planned development and its anticipated operations.
SpaceX has set 2029 as its target for an inaugural launch from Louisiana, two years after construction is expected to begin.
A Second Starbase
The Louisiana facility will share its name with SpaceX’s existing Starbase operation at the southern end of Texas.
In 2025, residents living around the company’s testing and development facilities in Cameron County approved the incorporation of the area as a city named Starbase.
The new complex would significantly expand the infrastructure supporting Starship, the company’s reusable spacecraft system.
Musk has described Starship as central to SpaceX’s plans for missions to the Moon and Mars.
He has also outlined projects involving artificial intelligence models and data centres deployed in orbit.
The planned frequency of thousands of annual flights remains a company target dependent on completing the facility and bringing Starship into large-scale operation.
Expansion After a Record Market Debut
The Louisiana announcement follows SpaceX’s entry into the public markets in June.
The company began trading on the technology-focused Nasdaq exchange in New York after completing the largest initial public offering on record.
Its shares were offered at $135 and rose sharply during the opening period.
They have since fallen by more than 30 per cent from the highs reached shortly after the listing, although they remain above the offer price.
SpaceX is simultaneously pursuing other capital-intensive technology projects.
Earlier in August, the company and Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle and robotics business, announced plans for a $16.8 billion artificial intelligence chip-manufacturing complex in Texas.
The facility, named Terafab, is intended to supply computing components for artificial intelligence, robotics and other projects being developed by the two companies.
The Louisiana launch centre represents a considerably larger commitment.
SpaceX’s announced $100 billion investment would be used to establish the infrastructure required for frequent Starship missions from the Gulf Coast.
