Florida Construction News staff writer
SpaceX is planning to invest at least $1.8 billion to build new Starship launchpads and processing facilities on Florida’s Space Coast, eyeing a key expansion for the rocket program beyond Texas amid pending environmental reviews, according to the state’s governor.
The company is establishing a new integration facility, dubbed Gigabay, adjacent to its HangarX location at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, as part of its efforts to ramp up the production and flight capabilities of the Starship system.
While flight testing and development continue at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, this new facility in Florida will serve as a key hub for Starship integration and refurbishment. The Gigabay, set to stand 380 feet tall, will offer an impressive 46.5 million cubic feet of interior processing space, including 815,000 sq. ft. of workspace. The state-of-the-art building will feature 24 work cells for integration and refurbishment and be equipped with cranes capable of lifting up to 400 US tons—more than double the lifting capacity of SpaceX’s current largest facilities.
The Gigabay will support the assembly of Starship and its Super Heavy booster, which, at 81 meters (266 feet) tall, will be the world’s first fully reusable, rapid-turnaround launch system. With this expansion, SpaceX aims to significantly increase the build and flight rates of the Starship program, which will ultimately play a crucial role in sending payloads to Mars and building a self-sustaining city on the Red Planet—fulfilling humanity’s goal of becoming multiplanetary.
Construction on the Gigabay is already underway, with SpaceX aiming for completion by the end of 2026. The new facility in Florida will be complemented by another Gigabay currently under construction at Starbase in Texas, near the Starship manufacturing facility. Both sites are critical to ramping up production and achieving rapid reusability for the Starship system.
Along with the Gigabay, SpaceX plans to complete the Starship launch pad at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center this year. The pad will feature lessons learned from Starbase’s launch facilities and include a deflector system for cooling and sound suppression during launches. Environmental impact reviews are still ongoing for potential Starship flight operations from LC-39A and Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with the first Florida Starship launch expected in late 2025, pending environmental approvals.
The expansion of Starship operations to Florida is a strategic move to further bolster the U.S. national security, scientific leadership, and economic growth. By positioning facilities for both production and launches in Florida and Texas, SpaceX is poised to accelerate the development of Starship, advancing the country’s space exploration goals and paving the way for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
