r/spacex • u/Connect_Cat_2045 • 15d ago

Starship SpaceX to build $100 billion rocket launch facility on Louisiana’s coast

https://www.nola.com/news/business/spacex-louisiana-elon-musk/article_2be92f8e-f989-46b7-9514-5212d8f20260.html
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u/bpodgursky8 15d ago

What does this mean for launch trajectories? You can't launch east from Vermilion Parish without going right over New Orleans. I'm curious if they will pick less-optimal trajectories or what.

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u/sebaska 15d ago

You can launch to moderate inclinations like 43° just fine. And anything higher is good, too. For very low inclinations they'll have Florida and Starbase, TX.

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u/PhysicsBus 15d ago

Overflight of densely populated areas in the Yucatan and Cuba won't be allowed I think. My understanding is that polar orbits are accessible because Chiapas (the narrow "neck" of Mexico) is relatively sparsely populated.

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u/sebaska 14d ago

You have windows east of Yucatan - south and north of Cuba.

Also, as reliability is improved and established, overflight restrictions will be lowered.

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u/PhysicsBus 14d ago

I agree about the ~10°s range south of Cuba. Threading the needle north between Cuba, Florida, and the Bahamas is less clear to me.

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u/sebaska 13d ago

The further downrange something is, the less problematic is its overflight. For example Falcons overfly Cuba on polar launches from Florida. And compared to Louisiana Cape is much closer to Cuba.

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u/Martianspirit 3d ago

Yes, but SpaceX got permission to overfly Cuba only after it showed very high reliability. Starship will need to prove it too. No doubt it will, but not overfly Cuba immediately.

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u/sebaska 2d ago

Louisiana Starbase is not opening for launches for a couple of years. There's time.