SpaceX to build Starship rocket complex in Louisiana

SpaceX ​plans to build a Starship ‌launch site ​in southern Louisiana in a deal announced on Tuesday with the state's governor, ‌aiming to start construction of its fourth spaceport next year, the company said. The 125,000-acre (50,585-hectare) site, named Starbase, Louisiana, will expand the company's Starship ‌launch operations beyond South Texas, and is designed to support "thousands of Starship ‌flights a year," the company said. SpaceX announced the plans near the proposed site in Vermilion Parish at an elaborate event featuring Governor Jeff Landry and ⁠other ​senior state ⁠officials.

The coastal marshland, more than eight times the size of Manhattan, will be ⁠a "self-sustaining spaceport" with "propellant production, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, ​and an airport," SpaceX added. Landry called the deal an "inflection point" ⁠for Louisiana. "This project means more than just steel, technology, and capital. It ⁠represents ​jobs for our families. It represents momentum for our communities, and it represents protection for our coast."

SpaceX has for years ⁠launched rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California ⁠and Starbase, the ⁠company town in South Texas that has been home to its Starship development and test-launch operations.