TechCrunch · AI · 2 ч назад
SpaceX will build a second, $100B ‘Starbase’ spaceport in Louisiana
The company says it will start construction in 2027 and that a Starship rocket could take flight as soon as 2029.
Подробности
SpaceX has announced it will build a second spaceport for future launches of its Starship mega-rocket at a former Exxon property in Louisiana, ending what the company says was a seven-year search for a suitable location.
The new launch site will sit along the Gulf Coast in Vermilion Parish, west of New Orleans and roughly 10 hours from the company’s existing Starbase complex in South Texas. SpaceX says it is investing $100 billion, with construction starting in 2027. SpaceX claims the first Starship launch will take place in 2029.
Louisiana Economic Development (LED), the state agency that oversees business development, offers a slightly more conservative timeline. It says construction will start by the end of 2027 with “initial operations expected to come online in 2030.”
Before any of that happens, SpaceX is still trying to prove that it can fly Starship into low-Earth orbit and make the rocket reusable, like its existing Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX has performed 13 test flights of Starship since 2023 , and while the company has ticked off a lot of development boxes, it still has a lot of work to do.
An upcoming 14th test flight could see SpaceX send Starship’s upper stage to orbit for the first time. But the company has yet to return both the booster and the upper stage to the launch pad on a single flight, a basic necessity if Starship is to become truly reusable. Even then, SpaceX must show that it can bring the vehicle back and refurbish it quickly enough to reach its own aggressive goal of sending up multiple Starships per week.