By Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) – 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.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Mark Porter and Rod Nickel)
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