Rebecca Triche, executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, said the state will need to step up to protect its coastal water resources and migratory birds.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will build a spaceport along the Gulf coast in Vermilion Parish capable of launching thousands of rockets annually, making Louisiana a global aerospace hub, in a deal that followed the dismissal of the parish’s coastal erosion lawsuit.
Gov. Jeff Landry and economic development officials announced the deal on Tuesday, saying that the private company, which develops reusable launch systems and runs the Starlink satellite network, will invest $100 billion in the launch site. The development will generate about 3,000 permanent jobs as well as 8,100 indirect jobs in Louisiana’s Acadiana region, officials said.
“Today is a pivotal moment for Louisiana,” Landry said during an event near Pecan Island. “This announcement pushes our state beyond $250 billion in new investment and 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.”
In the runup to Tuesday’s announcement, a federal judge dismissed the long-running coastal erosion lawsuit filed by Vermilion Parish against ExxonMobil. The energy giant is turning over to SpaceX about 130,000 acres of its coastal land in the parish for the planned spaceport, NOLA.com reported.
The parish’s lawsuit was one of scores of legal actions brought by Louisiana parishes seeking compensation for damage caused by the energy industry in past decades.
Environmental groups remained concerned about the spaceport’s effects on wildlife in the region. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed rulemaking changes that would waive long-standing federal statutes protecting wildlife, wetlands and public health for space-development projects.
Rebecca Triche, executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, told the Louisiana Record in an email that she has yet to see details about the “footprints and impact” of launching reusable rockets from the coastal-marshland site.
“In addition to the privately owned site, there are state and federal wildlife refuges in the area that deserve reviews and evaluation for impacts and mitigation on wildlife, habitat and public access,” Triche said. “We believe strong permitting review will help with site planning and project construction.”
She also expressed doubts that the state could effectively monitor and oversee a project of this size.
“Because of our past and experience in the state, we are understandably wary,” Triche said. “We can point to the state’s history of orphaned oil wells and the recent Smitty’s disaster (in Roseland) and continued environmental impacts that the state has struggled to manage. How is the state preparing to protect our resources in this phase?”
But she said she was glad to hear that SpaceX does want to play a role in the state’s coastal restoration efforts and noted that the governor mentioned the importance of coastal protections.
The spaceport, whose first launch could come as soon as 2029, will include five launch complexes, each containing two launch pads, as well as a propellant-production plant, power-generation facilities and housing for employees. It will be capable of sending both crewed and uncrewed spacecraft into orbit.
Future missions for the spaceport include support for orbital data centers, improved space-based internet connections worldwide and flights to the moon and Mars, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX received an incentives package from the state in return for its capital-investment plans, job-creation pledges and a $25 million donation to the Community Foundation of Acadiana to help address regional concerns as a result of the project’s growth, according to Louisiana Economic Development.
