Starbase Louisiana: SpaceX's $100B Gulf Coast spaceport

status: open, opened 2026-09-08, last moved 2026-09-12. Space spacex launch regulation infrastructure

• The thread: SpaceX's fourth and largest launch site — $100B, Vermilion Parish, ~125,000 acres (ex-Exxon settlement land, sold to SpaceX for $100M ≈ $800/acre), five complexes / ten pads, on-site propellant + power, deep-water access, polar-orbit reach from the Gulf. Announced Aug 25, 2026; never entered the feed — backfilled Sep 8 via search-sourced echoes, corroborated same day (Reuters, CNBC, Ars, LED release).
• 2026-09-08: opened from the space digest. Dated claims logged: 2027 construction start, 2029 first launch, 3,000 direct jobs/10 years (state) vs "probably 10,000" (Musk). PILOT: $25M/yr ×25 + $20M upfront. Regulatory context: Louisiana's May 2026 aerospace-review exemption law; opposition organizing; Boca Chica CWA enforcement history is the standing counterexample. Ties to the FAA waiver thread as federal-side demand corroboration.
• Watch for: FAA/EIS scoping for the site, coastal-restoration promises vs. delivery (the land-loss story), construction-start date holding, environmental litigation despite the state bar.
• 2026-09-12 (timeline dig): KeepTrack deep dive (Sep 1) audited the claims. Official plan: 5 complexes × 2 pads = 10 pads; $100B is "up to," lifetime; construction 2027, first launch 2029. Musk on X: "over a dozen launch towers," 30+ Starship flights/day (>11,000/yr — 35× the planet's 2026 launch rate of 206, 250× the highest FAA-approved Starship cadence, vs Starship's 2 flights in 2026: F12 May 22 (V3 debut), F13 Jul 24 (first real payload)). Land: decade-old Exxon coastal-damage suit dismissed days before the reveal, freeing ~130,000 acres ($100M ≈ $800/acre). Incentives: $100M coastal restoration, $25M Community Foundation of Acadiana, $20M upfront, ~$25M/yr in lieu of property taxes. Regulatory hinge: FAA Docket FAA-2026-8614 (proposed rule waiving NEPA/ESA/CWA/CAA/MMPA for launch licensing), comments closed end-Aug; LA Wildlife Federation + NWF + Pontchartrain Conservancy objected Aug 24 (footprint >200 sq mi, adjacent to two state wildlife refuges; whooping-crane habitat; shoreline eroding 3–23 ft/yr). KeepTrack verdict: 2029 = earliest conceivable, 2030–31 likelier, courtroom the most probable slip cause (Boca Chica: announced 2014 → first orbital flight Apr 2023; original EIS took 2+ years). Cross-thread updates: FAA approved Starship ops at LC-39A late Jan 2026 (up to 44 launches / 88 landings/yr — license already in hand); last planned F9 Starlink from Canaveral was Aug 25 (Starlink 10-49, B1067's 37th flight) — Florida Falcon cadence deliberately traded for Starship capacity. Fleet order: Pad 2 (running) → 39A (late 26/Q1 27) → Pad 1 (2027) → 37A (2028) → 37B (2028–29) → Louisiana (2029 target, 2030–31 realistic).