SpaceX announced plans for a new Starbase launch facility in Louisiana, targeting first operations within approximately three years. The company's construction timeline comparison offers context for the project.
Kennedy Space Center took approximately five and a half years to build. Launch Complex 39A, constructed from November 1963 to September 1965, required an additional 26 months of outfitting before Apollo 4 launched on November 9, 1967. Launch Complex 39B, built from December 1964 to April 1967, waited 25 months before its first launch with Apollo 10 on May 18, 1969.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station developed incrementally across decades. Early facilities like Launch Complex 5 (constructed 1954, first launch July 1956) and Launch Complex 14 (groundbreaking January 1956, first launch June 1957) featured simple designs. Space Launch Complex 40, originally built in the 1960s for Titan launches, required refurbishment starting in 2008 after SpaceX leased it in April 2007, culminating in Falcon 9's maiden flight in June 2010.
Starbase, Texas has progressed at a comparable rate to Kennedy Space Center. Construction began in 2014, paused, then resumed in 2018. Starhopper achieved its first hop in August 2019. Orbital Launch Pad 1 construction began in mid-2020 and completed in mid-2022.
The report does not provide completion details for the Louisiana facility's construction timeline.