SpaceX (SPCX) just announced its most expensive project on the ground yet. The company said it will spend $100 billion to build a giant rocket launch site in southern Louisiana, near Pecan Island. It will be called Starbase Louisiana, and Elon Musk described it as the biggest launch site on Earth. Once finished, it is meant to handle thousands of Starship flights a year, with Musk claiming it could support more than 30 launches a day. The scale is difficult to overstate. The site will have 10 launch pads across five complexes, its own fuel production, power generation, a deep-water port, and even an airport. All of this is being designed so it can run on its own. Construction is set to begin in 2027, with the first launch targeted for as soon as 2029. Louisiana’s governor called it an inflection point for the state, and SpaceX expects it to create at least 3,000 jobs.
