SpaceX is set to acquire 130,000 acres of marshland in southern Louisiana
SpaceX is set to acquire 130,000 acres of marshland in southern Louisiana
SpaceX 即将收购路易斯安那州南部 13 万英亩的沼泽地
SpaceX and the state of Louisiana are close to finalizing a deal for the launch company to acquire about 130,000 acres along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. There have been persistent rumors about such an agreement for months, but now The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate reports that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to announce the agreement later this month.
SpaceX 与路易斯安那州政府即将达成一项协议，这家航天公司将收购墨西哥湾北岸约 13 万英亩的土地。关于此项协议的传闻已持续数月，据《泰晤士报-皮卡尤恩报》（The Times-Picayune）和《新奥尔良倡导者报》（The New Orleans Advocate）报道，路易斯安那州州长杰夫·兰德里（Jeff Landry）预计将于本月晚些时候宣布该协议。
The deal would give SpaceX control of an 18-mile stretch of marshland southwest of Lafayette. The site, known as Pecan Island, became available as part of a legal settlement that resolves dozens of lawsuits that blame ExxonMobil for pollution and coastal land loss, the newspaper reports. No Louisiana officials publicly commented on the deal. Nor did SpaceX.
据该报报道，这项交易将使 SpaceX 获得拉斐特（Lafayette）西南部一段 18 英里长的沼泽地的控制权。该地点被称为“山核桃岛”（Pecan Island），是作为一项法律和解协议的一部分而提供的，该协议旨在解决数十起指控埃克森美孚公司（ExxonMobil）造成污染和沿海土地流失的诉讼。路易斯安那州官员和 SpaceX 均未就此交易发表公开评论。
In May, however, the company said in response to rumors about the Louisiana site on X, “It’s no secret that we intend to launch Starship a lot, targeting thousands of flights per year. That cadence will require the ability to launch from many different locations, so we are constantly exploring to find viable sites to expand Starship operations in the future, both domestically and internationally.”
然而，今年 5 月，该公司在 X 平台上回应有关路易斯安那州选址的传闻时表示：“我们打算频繁发射星舰（Starship），目标是每年数千次飞行，这已不是什么秘密。这种发射频率需要从多个不同地点进行发射的能力，因此我们一直在探索寻找可行的地点，以便在未来扩大星舰的运营，无论是在国内还是国际上。”
Adding fuel to the rumors
为传闻推波助澜
Adding fuel to the rumors was the passage of bills by the Louisiana Legislature earlier this year that included a package of incentives for aerospace companies, including liability protections and property tax breaks. According to the Louisiana newspaper, the agreement with SpaceX will include provisions for coastal restoration and preservation of the sensitive marshland along the northern Gulf Coast, which is important for wildlife and also acts as a buffer for hurricanes that regularly impact the region.
今年早些时候，路易斯安那州议会通过的法案为传闻增添了可信度，该法案包含了一揽子针对航空航天公司的激励措施，包括责任保护和房产税减免。据路易斯安那州当地媒体报道，与 SpaceX 的协议将包括沿海修复和保护墨西哥湾北岸敏感沼泽地的条款，这对野生动物至关重要，同时也作为该地区经常遭受飓风袭击的缓冲地带。
So why would SpaceX be interested in a remote, marshy location in southern Louisiana? If the company is to fulfill its ambitions to launch thousands of Starship rockets a year to build a massive constellation of orbital data centers, among other purposes, it needs more launch sites. And there are limited expanses of undeveloped coastal locations along the Gulf of Mexico and southern Atlantic Ocean in the United States.
那么，为什么 SpaceX 会对路易斯安那州南部一个偏远、泥泞的地点感兴趣呢？如果该公司要实现其每年发射数千枚星舰火箭以构建庞大的轨道数据中心星座（以及其他目的）的雄心，它就需要更多的发射场。而在美国墨西哥湾和南大西洋沿岸，未开发的沿海地区非常有限。
In the near future, SpaceX will have two orbital launch towers at its Starbase facility in South Texas and two more in Florida at Cape Canaveral. However, both of these locations are largely built out or congested with other launch companies. The Louisiana location, close to the Intracoastal Waterway with deep-water access and far more available real estate than Starbase, would offer several significant advantages.
在不久的将来，SpaceX 将在德克萨斯州南部的星际基地（Starbase）拥有两座轨道发射塔，并在佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角拥有另外两座。然而，这两个地点大多已开发完毕，或因其他发射公司的存在而拥挤不堪。路易斯安那州的这个地点靠近内陆水道，拥有深水通道，且可利用的土地面积远超星际基地，这将提供几个显著的优势。
It is relatively close, by barge, to SpaceX’s massive Starfactory in South Texas near Boca Chica beach. Additionally, the southward-facing location offers potential access to polar orbits. In contrast to equatorial orbits that move from west to east, polar orbits go north to south (or vice versa) and generally pass near or over the poles. It is likely that a majority of SpaceX’s orbital data center satellites will wind up in near-polar orbits. From Louisiana, it is possible that a Starship could reach a polar orbit with only a short traverse over Mexico nearly 1,000 miles down range.
通过驳船运输，该地点距离 SpaceX 在德克萨斯州南部博卡奇卡（Boca Chica）海滩附近的巨型“星工厂”（Starfactory）相对较近。此外，朝南的地理位置提供了进入极地轨道的潜力。与从西向东移动的赤道轨道不同，极地轨道从北向南（或反之）运行，通常经过极地附近或上方。SpaceX 的大部分轨道数据中心卫星很可能会部署在近极地轨道上。从路易斯安那州出发，星舰只需飞越墨西哥约 1000 英里，即可进入极地轨道。
Hello, Henry Hub?
你好，亨利港（Henry Hub）？
Another advantage of Louisiana is its proximity to natural gas infrastructure. For rapid launch operations, SpaceX will require extensive amounts of methane, and the Pecan Island site is located only a few dozen miles south of the “Henry Hub” distribution hub for natural gas, one of the most interconnected locations in the world. The availability of propellant would be far greater there than in Boca Chica or Florida.
路易斯安那州的另一个优势是靠近天然气基础设施。为了实现快速发射，SpaceX 将需要大量的甲烷，而“山核桃岛”选址地距离“亨利港”（Henry Hub）天然气配送中心仅几十英里，这是世界上互联程度最高的地点之一。在那里的推进剂供应能力将远高于博卡奇卡或佛罗里达。
A launch site in this area would raise significant environmental and logistical concerns and disrupt the local community. A similar thing has happened in South Texas over the last decade with the Starbase facility there, raising local opposition for environmental and other reasons. But from an economic standpoint, the Texas site has been good business for the state. SpaceX employs about 5,000 people directly in the Brownsville region and has transformed a sleepy border area into an aerospace powerhouse. Some analyses show the site now supports up to 24,000 indirect and direct jobs. It has also increased tourism during launches. In terms of accommodating SpaceX, Louisiana would certainly be incentivized by the potential for similar economic activity.
在该地区建立发射场将引发重大的环境和后勤问题，并扰乱当地社区。过去十年，德克萨斯州南部的星际基地也发生了类似的情况，因环境和其他原因引发了当地的反对。但从经济角度来看，德克萨斯州的基地对该州来说是一笔好生意。SpaceX 在布朗斯维尔（Brownsville）地区直接雇佣了约 5000 名员工，将一个沉睡的边境地区转变为航空航天重镇。一些分析显示，该基地目前支持多达 2.4 万个直接和间接就业岗位。它还增加了发射期间的旅游业收入。就接纳 SpaceX 而言，路易斯安那州无疑会受到类似经济活动潜力的激励。