Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the deal was a big win for the state and country, likening the impact of the new launch site to the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.
“Today is nothing short of a transformational moment,” he told lawmakers and others at a special event to celebrate the deal.
Musk was not there, but he appeared with Landry in a promotional video that played before the Republican governor's speech. SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell also spoke at the event.
The spaceport would be located on 125,000 acres (50,600 hectares) of land formerly owned by Exxon along Louisiana's southern coast about 200 miles (322 km) west of New Orleans in Vermilion Parish. The location provides key advantages, state officials said, including access to abundant natural gas and the ability to launch to a wide range of trajectories.
It would be the company’s fourth and largest launch site, playing a key role in ramping up missions of its reusable Starship launch system, according to a news release from Louisiana Economic Development. SpaceX wants to dramatically increase rocket launches as it aims to put more satellites in orbit. The Louisiana site could support thousands of launches each year, the news release said.
State lawmakers had approved sizable tax incentives for the project.
