It is wonderful to have dreams; America was built on them. Sometimes the dreams come true and other times they remain just a dream. One of the most successful IPOs was SpaceX and it is dreaming big.
In an article by Joey Roulette of Reuters, SpaceX unveiled plans to build its largest rocket launch complex in southern Louisiana to transform coastal wetlands into a critical base for the company’s Starship and AI satellite launch ambition. The site is on Pecan Island which is southwest of Lafayette. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell hopes to eventually launch thousands of Starships flights a year.
Construction is expected to start in 2028 with the ability to launch in 2029.
The self-sustaining space port will include its own methane production for propellant, power generation, deep water shipping capabilities to transport Starships from Texas, vehicle processing facilities and maybe an airport.
The 125,000-acre site is a marshland and equivalent to 8 times the size of Manhattan. The idea is to have a number of launch pads surrounded by greenery.
Years ago, there was a movie starring Julia Robers called Pelican’s Brief, not surprising Pecan Island is a protected hub for dozens of migratory bird species travelling through the Western Hemisphere. The other issue is the Gulf tends to have hurricanes and the marshlands help protect the inland residents.
SpaceX has a number of sites in the US including in Boca Chica (located near the Texas, Mexican border) where they both launch and build the rockets. In Cape Canaveral, Florida SpaceX is building 2 Starship pads next to its Falcon 9 launch pads next to where NASA launches it rockets into space. SpaceX also has a Falcon 9 launch site in Vanderberg Space Force Base in California, up the coast from Santa Barbara.
Linking to dividend paying stocks, SpaceX is a new industry and everything it does is big, including spending billions of dollars. The idea is to use satellites in space to replace the Wi-Fi towers and maybe it will and maybe in will not. Dreams are possible, and if you like the dream you can invest in it. One should not have all your assets in SpaceX until it actually makes money, but as part of a diversified portfolio or buying an index fund you will be tied to the dream. The bulk of money should be profitable companies, because sometimes dreams come true and sometimes they tell great stories but little monetary return.
There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.
