Vermilion Parish's Sen. Bob Hensgens confirms talk between space exploration company and Exxon-Mobil taking place

Vermilion Parish may soon receive its most significant news since offshore oil drilling began in 1947.
In recent weeks, reports have circulated online that a space exploration company is considering purchasing 136,000 acres south of La. 14 in Vermilion Parish. The land is owned by Exxon-Mobil, with surface rights managed by Vermilion Corporation.
The 136,000 acres include land west of Intracoastal City, as well as areas north and south of Pecan Island, extending to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Cameron Parish.
State Senator Bob Hensgens, who is from Gueydan, confirmed that discussions are underway between a space exploration company and Exxon-Mobil regarding the potential purchase of 136,000 acres in Vermilion Parish.
However, Sen. Hensgens could not confirm which company is involved. Possibilities include SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, or Blue Origin, owned by Amazon’s Jim Bezos.
“There is talk about buying Vermilion Corporation,” said Sen. Hensgens. “I have not determined which space exploration company is negotiating with them. I am not privileged to that information.”

Sen. Hensgens was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement to prevent public disclosure of information about a space exploration company locating in Vermilion Parish. He declined to sign.
“I cannot do that to the people who elected me,” said the Senator.
Unoffically, the aerospace company is interested in a site west of Freshwater City, or southeast of Pecan Island. There is also discussion of constructing a protective levee along the coastline where the facility would be located.
Senator Hensgens expressed enthusiasm about the possibility of SpaceX locating near Pecan Island, noting it would benefit both the eroding marsh and residents of Vermilion Parish and Acadiana.
“This could bring billions to Vermilion Parish, including nearly $100 million for coastal protection,” Sen. Hensgens said.
Sen. Hensgens noted that Brownsville, Texas, has thrived in recent years since SpaceX established a launch site there.
According to a December 2025 press release from Brownsville, SpaceX’s presence has had a positive impact on the city.
“Each launch draws thousands of spectators — an estimated 20,000 per event — who come to witness history in the making. But beyond the spectacle, SpaceX’s presence is fueling serious momentum in jobs, education, tourism, and local spending.
“According to the report, SpaceX contributed more than $13 billion to the regional economy over the past two years. That includes everything from workforce salaries and infrastructure spending to hotel stays and restaurant visits.

“The job creation alone is reaching stratospheric levels. SpaceX currently employs 4,300 people, with projections estimating that number could grow to 8,000 by next year as launch activity continues to ramp up.
“Region-wide, SpaceX operations supported more than 24,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2023 and 2024 combined.”

Four hotels valued at $50 million are under construction in Brownsville over the next two years, driven by growth and increased tourism.
Jim Keaty, owner of Keaty Real Estate in Lafayette, contacted sources to determine if SpaceX or Blue Origin is purchasing Vermilion Corporation. He was unable to confirm the rumor until Sen. Hensgens commented this week.
Keaty shared his perspective in his personal blog on why a space exploration company might choose to locate south of Abbeville.
“If you’re wondering why SpaceX would care about a quiet stretch of Louisiana marsh, the answer is logistics. Pecan Island and Freshwater City are located on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), a protected inland shipping canal that runs from Brownsville, Texas, to Florida. SpaceX’s Starship rockets are 30 feet wide and over 160 feet tall, making them too large for road or rail transport. They must be moved by barge.
Freshwater City is located approximately halfway between SpaceX’s Boca Chica manufacturing hub, 450 miles west, and Cape Canaveral, 850 miles east, both connected by the protected Gulf Intracoastal Waterway,” Keaty wrote.
“Freshwater City is nearly equidistant from Boca Chica and Cape Canaveral. The Freshwater Bayou Lock offers direct, deep-water access to the Gulf of Mexico for SpaceX’s autonomous drone-ship recovery vessels. The Port of Iberia, an hour east, has over 100 marine fabrication yards equipped to build launch mounts, modify barges, and supply offshore-grade steel.”
While it is confirmed that a space exploration company is interested in locating in the parish, it remains unclear how the land will be used. Neither Sen. Hensgens nor Keaty could provide a definitive answer.
Keaty speculated that Vermilion Parish would be an ideal location to build and test rockets, which could then be shipped by barge through the Intracoastal Canal to Texas or Florida.
Keaty predicted that the Pecan Island area could become the next Michoud Assembly Facility, a site in New Orleans that builds NASA’s large-scale space structures, serving as a heavy-industrial aerospace factory in the marsh.
Keaty wrote: “I love Acadiana’s economy and I want to see it grow. I also love the Sportsman’s Paradise we grew up in. Those two things are about to be in real tension. If SpaceX comes, the prosperity will be enormous — generational wealth for landowners, thousands of new jobs, restaurants and businesses opening across Vermilion and Lafayette parishes. But the cost will be real too — a piece of the marsh, a piece of the quiet, a piece of the way things have always been. I don’t know yet how I’ll feel when I’m watching a Starship roll past my own camp on a barge.”