SpaceX’s Louisiana Spaceport Worries Locals, NDAs
SpaceX plans to build a $100 billion rocket launch facility on Louisiana’s Gulf coast capable of firing about 30 Starship rockets per day—thousands per year—but residents near the site say the deal was sealed in secret, according to NPR. The 125,000-acre spaceport in Vermilion Parish, billed as “Starbase Louisiana,” would be the company’s fourth and largest launch site and the biggest spaceport in the world.
Gov. Jeff Landry and SpaceX executives announced the project on Aug. 25 at an invitation-only event in Abbeville, complete with an action-movie-style video depicting Elon Musk arriving by helicopter. But the celebration has been shadowed by questions about how the deal was negotiated and what it costs Louisiana.
A Deal Negotiated Behind NDAs
Dozens of local and state officials signed nondisclosure agreements to discuss the project under the codename “Project Osprey.” The agreements, obtained through records requests by the Gulf States Newsroom, are part of a broader pattern of secrecy that WWNO documented in a March investigation, which found at least 50 public officials have signed NDAs with Louisiana Economic Development since Landry took office—compared with none in the final four years of former Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Asked about transparency, Landry defended the practice. “You think I want Texas to steal my thunder? You think I want other states to know what we’re working on?” he said, according to NPR. “Quite frankly, that’s what has continued to happen to Louisiana before I became governor.”
Tulane Law School’s Bruce Hamilton called the tactic “weaponizing a contract that puts a muzzle on an elected official.” “Government business is the public’s business,” he told the Gulf States Newsroom. “When NDAs are used in government to silence public officials or make the public’s business less transparent, everyone in Louisiana suffers.”
Record Tax Breaks and New Laws
What the NDAs kept hidden, records later revealed, was one of the largest incentive packages in U.S. history. The property tax exemption alone is valued at nearly $23.8 billion over 25 years, meaning SpaceX will pay Vermilion Parish about $1 for every $38 in property taxes it would otherwise owe. The total package is estimated at $27.5 billion.
In exchange, SpaceX will pay the parish roughly $25 million annually and make a $25 million charitable donation. According to Louisiana Economic Development, the project will create 3,000 direct jobs over 10 years at an average salary of $92,600, plus about 8,100 indirect jobs. Musk’s promotional video claimed closer to 10,000 jobs.
Landry also signed laws written specifically for aerospace companies, exempting them from property taxes, from liability and nuisance claims tied to noise, vibrations, heat exhaust and sonic booms, and from public records laws. SpaceX is covered by those exemptions.
Michael Hecht, president of Greater New Orleans Inc., framed the project as transformative. “This state has the workforce, the industrial capacity, the energy supply and the location to lead the next era of space exploration,” he said, per Fox 8.
A Community Left Out
The spaceport site sits about a 45-minute drive south of Abbeville, between two wildlife refuges on the Mississippi Flyway—a major migratory bird route to Central and South America. Kim Nehrbass, who owns a hunting and fishing camp on nearby Pecan Island, watched the announcement on a livestream and was unsparing.
“[Landry] is thanking everybody for making it happen. He didn’t ask anybody if they wanted to do it, the people of the state,” he said. “He just ramrodded it through.”
Resident Brooke Broussard described watching rumors harden into reality over months—white Xs painted on roads, helicopters circling the marsh. “Talk about ominous, huh? X marks the spot,” she told WWNO. She choked up describing what the land means to her, and said she wants the outside world to understand what was there before. “I don’t want the story to just be: ‘Elon Musk came and conquered,’” she said. “I want the other stories to be told.”
Outdoor educator Gabe Giffin worries about the millions of birds that rest on the marshes before flying south. “This is the last ledge before they leap off,” he said.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell acknowledged the concern but dismissed it. “Now the birds might fly away during a launch, but I guarantee they’ll come back,” she said, per NPR. “As soon as the rocket’s gone, the birds come back.” Broussard’s reply: “Why would the birds come back? They’re smarter than us, in some ways.”
Environmental and Regulatory Fights Ahead
The project is also unfolding against a proposed federal rule that would waive 13 environmental laws—including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act—to fast-track aerospace development. Environmental advocates submitted a joint letter to the Department of Transportation and FAA objecting to the change before the public comment period closed on Aug. 31.
“There is a process for projects like this, and it’s important to answer them,” Rebecca Triche, executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, told Fox 8. “Just because you don’t have a permit to answer to, doesn’t mean you don’t have those impacts. That’s the people’s property, and they have the right to understand what is being proposed.”
Critics note that Landry’s approach combines NDAs, accelerated permitting and liability shields—a combination that Pat Garofalo of the American Economic Liberties Project said systematically removes public input. “You are explicitly preventing that democratic feedback by signing one of these NDAs,” he said.
State Rep. Danny McCormick, a Republican from rural Caddo Parish, put it more simply: “They don’t want the little people to know what they’re doing until after they’ve done it.”
What’s Next
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first launch targeted as soon as 2029. At full buildout the site would include five launch complexes, each with two pads, plus propellant farms and employee housing.
The FAA waiver proposal and any legal challenges remain open questions. So does whether the incentive package—the largest in Louisiana history—delivers enough for a community that, residents say, was never asked. For Broussard and her neighbors, the deal is already done. What remains is the telling of a different story: of a marsh, a flyway and a way of life that predates the rockets.