Musk's SpaceX to build $100bn launch facility in Louisiana

ByOsmond Chia Business reporter. 26 August 2026, 01: 39 BST.

Key points

• SpaceX remarked it seeks to launch its first Starship flight from the new Louisiana base in 2029.
• According to Multi-billionaire Elon Musk's rocket firm SpaceX has, it will build its largest launch site yet in the southern US state of Louisiana.
• It will be applied to "support thousands of Starship flights a year with missions launching to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, " SpaceX stated on Tuesday.
• Its shares have tumbled by more than 30% from the highs reached shortly after it began trading but are still higher than their $135 offer cost.
• In June, SpaceX shares began trading on New York's technology-focused Nasdaq in the world's biggest ever stock market debut.

Construction of the $100bn (£73bn) project – named Starbase, Louisiana – is due to start next year, with the 125, 000-acre (50, 585-hectare) site expanding on the company's operations beyond its current Texas headquarters and locations in Florida.

In practice, the facility will add more than 3, 000 jobs to the region, the firm stated, external.

Notably, the Louisiana Economic Development agency remarked the average wage of workers at the base – the largest of its kind in the world – would be 192% more than the region's current average salary.

It will additionally create more than 8, 100 new jobs indirectly, the agency estimated.

"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, " it continued.

Notably, the facility in Louisiana will share its name with another SpaceX site on the southern tip of Texas.

In 2025, residents in an area of Cameron County, where the firm has testing and development operations, approved incorporating the patch of land as a city called Starbase.

Inside the rural Texas town where Elon Musk is basing his business empire.

Meanwhile, the SpaceX IPO created history. One month on has it lost momentum?

Musk has set out ambitious goals for SpaceX, including intends to reach Mars, develop artificial intelligence (AI) models and launch data centres into space.

In August, SpaceX and Tesla – Musk's electric vehicle and robotics firm – confirmed aims to build a $16.8bn artificial intelligence (AI) chip making complex in Texas called the Terafab.

For context, the facility intends to meet the businesses' growing demand for computing power to backing its projects including developing AI and robotics technology over the coming years.

Notably, the newly-listed SpaceX is under pressure to convince investors that it will be profitable even as it pursues its expansion intends.

For now, musk' s SpaceX to build $100bn launch facility in Louisiana remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.