Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced plans Tuesday to build a $100 billion facility in the southern US state of Louisiana to launch its highly anticipated Starship megarockets, currently being developed at the company’s Texas Starbase.

“A spaceport on the Louisiana Gulf Coast enabling a multiplanetary future,” declared the SpaceX website.

The new facility will be built in Vermillion Parish, about 115 miles (185 km) west of New Orleans.

“We’re committed to investing at least $100 billion and creating more than 3,000 new jobs at Starbase, Louisiana,” the company said, with construction to begin next year.

SpaceX says the buildout will go beyond mere launch pads and include all the infrastructure necessary to support “thousands of Starship flights per year”, with the first expected in 2029.

Starship is the company’s megarocket, still under development, which it plans to use for missions to the Moon and Mars.

“Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day and making it the biggest launch site on Earth!” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns.

Musk, the world’s richest man, is known for his grandiose promises and highly optimistic timelines.

The Louisiana Economic Development agency said the average salary of workers at the facility would be 192 per cent more than the region’s current mean wage.

SpaceX also said it would undertake significant efforts to preserve the coastline and protect local wildlife.

The company is currently developing its Starship rocket at a facility in Texas that is near protected areas, drawing opposition from several environmental groups.

The US Geological Survey estimated in 2017 that Louisiana has more coastal wetland loss than the combined total of all other states in the contiguous US.

AFP