SpaceX proposes 750 MW natural gas plant alongside Texas supercomputing center

SpaceX is seeking approval to set up a 750-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired power plant and supercomputing facility at Starbase,Texas. The company separately confirmed on Thursday plans to invest more than $24 billion in the supercomputing project, which will generate its own electricity without drawing power from the public grid. The proposed facilities are part of a broader development plan for which SpaceX has sought a property tax abatement and a related economic development agreement, according to a public hearing notice issued by the City of Starbase. The city commission is scheduled to consider both requests at a public hearing on December 9. Multi-billion project ​To develop the said facilities, the company has proposed an investment of $24 billion, which would be the largest private technology investment ever proposed in the Rio Grande Valley as the company seeks to expand its artificial intelligence computing capabilities. ​The company said the proposed project would be built on roughly 444 acres near the Port of Brownsville and would combine a natural gas power plant with a large-scale data center designed to support AI workloads. The project has already generated more than 3,000 construction jobs and is expected to support more than 500 permanent positions once operational. The planned investment builds on more than $15 billion the company has already invested in Starship and related infrastructure at Starbase. ​It would construct, own, and operate both the power plant and the supercomputing campus. The space company has been focusing on producing electricity from fossil fuels to power Musk’s larger ambitions in the AI space. Building its own power generation facility could allow SpaceX to avoid lengthy waits for grid connections, an increasingly common challenge for developers of large AI data centers. According to SpaceX, the supercomputing facility will train frontier intelligence systems for applications spanning medical research, emergency response, advanced manufacturing and national security. It will also help develop and test technologies for future space-based computing. ​The proposal also aligns with Elon Musk’s broader AI ambitions. SpaceX has rapidly expanded beyond its traditional launch business by investing heavily in computing infrastructure that supports AI services. The company has reported strong growth in AI-related revenue while renting computing capacity to customers including Google and Anthropic. The company also announced a $220 million project to expand Brownsville’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The company described this as the largest private contribution to the city’s water future in its history and said it has already provided $40 million to the Brownsville Public Utilities Board to begin the work. The proposed water projects could add approximately 20 million gallons per day of additional capacity through potable water reuse and expanded brackish-groundwater treatment. The investment is intended to strengthen regional water security and reduce dependence on the Rio Grande. SpaceX’s other natural gas projects ​In October, SpaceX sought approval for a 32.4-mile natural gas pipeline in Florida to supply fuel for its Starship rockets as the company prepares to expand launch operations at Cape Canaveral. The proposed 16-inch transmission pipeline would run through Brevard County and connect SpaceX facilities with the existing Florida Gas Transmission interstate pipeline, and bring natural gas directly from the interstate network to customers including SpaceX. Florida is not SpaceX’s first attempt to build a dedicated natural gas connection for Starship. The company has also sought approval for an approximately 8-mile pipeline serving its Starbase launch complex near Boca Chica in South Texas. The two projects point to a broader effort to establish dedicated fuel infrastructure around SpaceX’s major Starship launch sites. The Florida pipeline would be about four times as long as the proposed Texas connection. Once approved, the Starbase project would rank among the largest private investments in South Texas and further transform the company’s launch site into a hub for both space exploration and AI infrastructure. The December 9 hearing will determine whether SpaceX receives the requested tax incentives needed to move the project forward. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.