SpaceX plans $100bn spaceport in US

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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.

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

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PUNCH Online reports that a spaceport is a site used for launching, landing, testing, and maintaining spacecraft.

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

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“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.

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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.

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

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“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.

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

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

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

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

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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

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