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Starbase, LA

Starbase, LA

bilsbie

Comments (278)

  • tristanj
    So this is official after months of speculation. Local realtors called this back in May https://x.com/SERobinsonJr/status/2051440979878559829 , and Ars Technica covered these rumors earlier this month https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-is-set-to-acqui... .The Louisiana location has two major benefits:Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) Access: Launches into SSO have a launch angle of ~98° relative to the equator (i.e. south), and launching from Louisiana gives a direct launch corridor over the Gulf of America without crossing major cities.SpaceX plans to launch millions of datacenter satellites in SSO, so this is the perfect launch site for their use case. SSO launches from their existing launch sites (Boca Chica and Cape Canaveral) would overfly land.Existing Methane pipelines: They are next to existing Gulf Coast natural gas/LNG infra, making bulk liquid methane delivery significantly easier. Currently for Starbase, there are no pipelines and methane is shipped in via truck. Delivering the ~1,000 metric tons of methane required for a single Starship launch requires 50-60 tanker truck deliveries.
  • chasd00
    Man if this actually starts to happen it's a good time to be a welder, concrete worker, or any general contractor or tradesman in Louisiana. Coastal Louisiana is some of the poorest areas in the US even more so than the valley in Texas where Starbase Texas is located. Probably 10-20 years worth of solid work building out that site.
  • ianm218
    It’s easy to be pessimistic about Musk timelines/ big tech but I am thrilled that ambitious, real world, hard projects are happening in the US again.
  • cwal37
    I wonder if anyone read the copy on this page or if it mostly came out of an LLM.The "Restoring the shoreline" and Rebuilding the marshlands" paragraphs below the images are almost exactly the same. The first sentence is exactly the same.
  • rbanffy
    Look! Flame trenches, the kind Elon said were useless because he had a better idea - that inverted shower floor.
  • fig781
    I definitely read this as Starbucks. Boy was I surprised when I clicked on the link
  • mrtnmcc
    A way to get back at Texas for datacenter restrictions?Ten pads and thousands of flights per year sure will accelerate Golden Dome, err... I mean "going to Mars"
  • dylan604
    From the hype video, it looks like they will be building towers in pairs. Hard to tell the distances, but if one explodes on the pad, will it's pair be in the blast radius? I'm guessing the plane will be to have a launch on one them and then move to the other for a faster launch cadence?
  • pinkmuffinere
    I wonder how coastal they intend to be. They make a lot of claims about repairing the wetlands and coastal regions, but a lot of it is likely going to be underwater in the next 25 years because of rising sea levels [0], regardless of how many wetlands are repaired. And I suspect infrastructure like this probably has to be usable for something like 100 years to payoff. Maybe they're actually going to build inland, where the eventual coast will be?[0] https://www.klfy.com/louisiana/interactive-map-shows-which-p...
  • rickreynoldssf
    I wonder how many environmentalists are losing their shit over this and burring the lawsuit machine.
  • BugsJustFindMe
    > Building a new space coastBut are they building it ghost to ghost?
  • kemotep
    It’s hard to imagine that Cocoa Beach/Titusville isn’t receptive to this. I guess it’s probably cheaper? They don’t have to share the airspace with NASA and other launch companies and it becomes a fully owned and operated Freeport for Musk’s ventures.
  • MeetingsBrowser
    > Starbase, Louisiana will be built to support thousands of Starship flights a year. This self-sustaining spaceport will have propellant production, power generation, deep-water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and an airport.Sounds really neat, but "incredibly ambitious announcement" from an Elon Musk company is starting to wear thin.Is this real, or will it join the graveyard of other incredibly ambitious projects that were eventually abandoned to focus on the next incredibly ambitious project.
  • timcobb
    Why does this need to be built on the beach?
  • daft_pink
    A quick ctrl f for Gulf of America yield no results. Just curious lol.
  • sailfast
    Great place to put a star base for all the reasons listed, but, uh… does anyone buy for a second that Elon Musk gives a fig about the Louisiana coastline or the migratory birds?
  • ramesh31
    Ah, Louisiana — when even Texas won't let you pollute enough.
  • bigtex88
    Isn't this an absolutely horrible idea to build this here? What happens when the next Category 5 hurricane hits this area? It's an absolute certainty that they will get another Category 5 at some point.
  • simgt
    I wish Musk had stuck to bullying his employees instead of going after everyone, because SpaceX is still building a more interesting future. Although that apparently involves pouring concrete in a wetland.
  • digitalsurgeonz
    considering how the capitalism the chosen framework of the westoid works. i will be watching it (burn and fail) with popcorn and my turkish coffee while enjoying fine persian carpets. this will be loaded with corruption and greed and will fail. I am taking bets.
  • estearum
    > Pecan Island and nearby wetlands are high-value habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, and other coastal wildlife. SpaceX is not developing the full footprint of the land and will preserve wetlands and wildlife habitat.Pretty cynical corpo-ambiguity-speak, even by Musk standards.We're supposed to be happy they're promising not to develop one-hundred percent of the land footprint? They will leave at least 0.00001% of land area as wetlands and therefore we oughta be happy?Such empty bullshit it's more insulting they even put an environment-leaning section on the site. Just say "fuck it, our space fetish is more important than the wetlands."
  • ratelimitsteve
    well, let's see what actually gets done. or even started.
  • johnyzee
    "Watch Now" just shows a black screen with an audio track for me.
  • 1auralynn
    I mean, isn't the LA coast going to be underwater in 50 years?
  • xyst
    Space exploration is a pipe dream and fantasy that billionaires hope to have up and running just in time to "escape" the world they have helped destroy.Prove me wrong bro
  • officeplant
    As a local who will probably end up doing work for or adjacent to this project:Fuck Elon get out of my state.
  • krunck
    I used to be interested in SpaceX development. Then I came to the realization that SpaceX is going to be used primarily for the militarization of space: hauling space based weaponry, weaponry drop ships, surveillance satellites, etc.I still feel glad for the SpaceX engineers and scientists who succeed and doing new and innovative stuff. But their employer is just like every other military contractor sucking on the unlimited teets of the US Government. What a waste of taxpayer money.I grew up in during the Cold War and I'm sick of this shit. America always thinking it has to dominate any country that doesn't bow down before it.
  • maeln
    Feels like an impossible project that will end up being 5% of what was advertised (the 5% being what was actually planned all along), but is made with folie des grandeurs to pump a stock who's hype has died down.
  • moberley
    Will they have to rename the other Starbase Louisiana? https://starbasela.org/
  • fblp
    I wonder if we're at the point where this shoreline critical infrastructure would need more physical security / protection from the drones of adversaries.
  • dzonga
    Elon - great product guy - he has to let go of his scammy tendencies of overpromising stuff.just one launch base will transform the Louisiana economy.
  • sfblah
    Humans will never be "multiplanetary" without something like warp drive.