SpaceX to Build US$100 Billion Starbase Louisiana, Targeting Mars Missions
SpaceX, the rocket company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has announced plans to build its largest rocket launch site in the southern US state of Louisiana. The construction of the giant project, named Starbase Louisiana, is estimated to require an investment of up to US$100 billion (approximately Rp1,600 trillion).
Construction of the 125,000-acre (approximately 50,585-hectare) facility is scheduled to begin next year. The presence of Starbase Louisiana is projected to expand SpaceX’s operations beyond its current headquarters in Texas and other launch sites in Florida.
“This site will be used to support thousands of Starship flights per year with launch missions to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” SpaceX said in an official statement on Tuesday. SpaceX is targeting the first Starship flight from the new Louisiana base to take place in 2029.
The Louisiana Economic Development agency stated that the base will be the largest of its kind in the world. The facility is expected to absorb more than 3,000 direct workers and create more than 8,100 new indirect jobs in the region. In addition, the average salary of workers at the base is estimated to be 192% higher than the current regional average salary.
“This historic project will establish Louisiana as a global hub for the next generation of aerospace, complete with the capacity and infrastructure needed to dramatically increase launch frequency and expand access to space,” the agency said.
The new facility shares the same name as SpaceX’s other base at the southern tip of Texas. In 2025, residents of Cameron County, where SpaceX operates its testing and development centre, approved the incorporation of the area into an official city named Starbase.
This expansion step is in line with Elon Musk’s grand ambitions for SpaceX, including plans to reach Mars, develop artificial intelligence (AI) models, and launch data centres into space. Last August, SpaceX together with Musk’s electric vehicle and robotics company, Tesla, announced plans to build a US$16.8 billion AI chip manufacturing complex in Texas named Terafab to meet the computing power needs of their projects.
On the other hand, this massive expansion is taking place amid market pressure. SpaceX shares, which began trading on the Nasdaq New York exchange last June in the largest stock market debut in history, had fallen more than 30% from their highest point, although their value still held above the initial offering price of US$135 per share. SpaceX is now under investor scrutiny to prove the company’s profitability amid its various expansion projects.