Tech billionaire Elon Musk has set his sights on Louisiana to build a new facility to launch rockets into space, but locals are divided on whether the move will be beneficial to the region.
Musk’s company SpaceX announced Tuesday that it will invest $100 billion to build its largest launch facility to date in Vermilion Parish, about a three-hour drive southwest of New Orleans. With the new spaceport, Musk can launch thousands more rockets per year.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said in a statement that the new facility “puts us at the center of the next great frontier.”
“We have the people and talent to build what the world once thought impossible, creating jobs on land, across the Gulf and through space,” Landry said. “Our job creation knows no bounds. This is America First. This is Louisiana First. I want to thank Elon Musk and the entire SpaceX team for choosing Louisiana.”
The new project is estimated to create 3,000 direct jobs and 8,100 indirect jobs, the Louisiana Economic Development agency said in a Tuesday press release.
open image in gallerySeth Chapman, the 33-year-old owner of local bait shop Perry Outfitters, said he is a big believer in Musk, telling The Wall Street Journal, “No matter what he wants to do, it’s going to benefit the local economy.”
Chapman conducted an informal poll about the launch site at his store, where visitors used stickers to share their opinions. There were more than 100 stickers in the “yes” to SpaceX column and 72 in the “no” column. There were also several people who were undecided.
Some locals living closer to the launch site feared their homes would be taken away, though Landry said no one would be asked to leave, according to the Journal.
“If they run us out, where do we go?” Wayne Miller, a 66-year-old retired blue-collar worker who voted for Landry, told the publication. “What do we do?”
Special education teacher Brooke Broussard added: “This is not just a place of hunting and fishing, it’s not a wasteland, it’s not a forgotten place.”
open image in galleryConstruction for the Louisiana facility is expected to begin in 2027, with the first launch as soon as 2029, according to state officials.
“We’re preparing to build a spaceport that, until now, has only existed in science fiction,” Musk said in a statement. “SpaceX was founded to bring about a future where humans are out exploring amongst the stars, which will only be possible when we make going to space as routine as flying on an airplane.”
The Louisiana facility would be SpaceX’s fourth launch site as Musk ramps up missions of the company’s fully reusable Starship launch system, Louisiana Economic Development said in its press release.
The facility is expected to include five launch complexes, each with two launch pads and a propellant farm.