“SpaceX should not come here at all. Leave us alone.” Governor Jeff Landry confirmed on Tuesday plans for “Starbase Louisiana,” a $100-billion SpaceX launch facility near Louisiana’s Pecan Island. “Gator Queen” Liz Choate, former star of “Swamp People,” told BT News she and her neighbors have been shut out and kept in the dark about the plans. Elon Musk recently announced a partnership with Nvidia to develop orbital space-based data centers, leading to speculation that the more than 130,000 acres acquired in the Pecan Island land deal could be used for natural gas extraction and solar power infrastructure to support these plans as well. Pecan Island is one of the last undeveloped stretches of Louisiana coastline and is a critical route for migrating birds. It was acquired by the state for SpaceX’s development from Exxon Mobile, which has leased it for public use since the 1950s.

From BreakThrough News via This RSS Feed.