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TL;DR
SpaceX says it plans to invest more than $74 billion in AI computing campuses near Starbase, Texas, and in Cochise County, Arizona. The projects could reshape local power and water infrastructure, but both still require local approvals, and key details—including the Texas facility’s capacity and water use—remain undisclosed.
SpaceX said November 12 it is advancing two AI computing campuses, one near its Starbase launch site in Texas and another in Cochise County, Arizona, describing the plans as more than $74 billion in combined investment. The projects could bring major changes to local electricity systems, water infrastructure and employment, but both still need local approvals and several resource-use details are unresolved.
In Texas, SpaceX says it plans to invest more than $24 billion in a supercomputing facility on about 444 acres between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville. A Starbase city notice describes the project as including a gas-fired power plant; SpaceX says the site will generate its own electricity rather than draw from the public grid. The notice does not specify the plant’s capacity.
Local outlet The 956 Report, citing an air registration filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, reported that an initial setup would use 35 natural-gas turbines totaling about 748 megawatts, followed by eight larger turbines totaling about 708 megawatts. Those figures come from the outlet’s account of the filing, not from the city notice. SpaceX says the Texas facility will support AI training and help develop and test technology for future space-based computing. It projects more than 3,000 construction jobs and over 500 permanent positions.
In Arizona, SpaceX describes a roughly $50 billion campus with up to nine computing buildings on about 747 acres near Cochise. The county application was filed by Tombstone Resources L.L.C.; SpaceX’s project page and the company’s town-hall statement connect the project to SpaceX. The application proposes four construction phases, reaching about 6 gigawatts of grid power at full build-out, with a 24-gigawatt-hour battery system. It estimates 7 to 10 acre-feet of water use per year, mostly for staff, and describes dry cooling without cooling towers.
How SpaceX’s AI Campuses Could Shape Local Infrastructure
SpaceX plans two large AI computing campuses in Texas and Arizona. Their effects on local power, water and jobs depend on approvals and details still under review.
Two power plans
The campuses would connect to electricity in different ways.
- Plans on-site gas-fired power generation.
- Facility capacity and direct water use remain undisclosed.
- Would draw power through local electric cooperatives.
- Application proposes dry cooling and estimates 7 to 10 acre-feet of water use per year.
Potential local gains
The company presents investment, jobs and infrastructure improvements as possible benefits.
Jobs and water infrastructure
SpaceX projects more than 3,000 construction jobs and over 500 permanent positions. It says its regional water and wastewater work could add about 20 million gallons per day.
A phased workforce
The application estimates about 5,500 construction workers at peak and around 1,000 staff at full build-out.
What remains unresolved
Project plans and estimates do not establish final costs or community impacts.
- Both projects still require local reviews and approvals.
- Arizona power arrangements and promised effects on member bills depend on approvals.
- Final conditions, construction timing and which phases proceed remain unsettled.
Upcoming decisions
Local Power and Water at Stake
The projects would tie the growth of AI computing to decisions about infrastructure in two communities with very different power arrangements. The Texas plan calls for on-site electricity generation, while the Arizona campus would depend on power delivered through the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative and the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative to a utility-owned substation. At the Arizona site, the application’s stated full-build power requirement is about 6,000 megawatts, making the scale and timing of grid connections central local questions.
SpaceX also presents the projects as potential sources of jobs and investment. The Arizona application estimates about 5,500 construction workers at peak, roughly 250 staff when the first buildings open and around 1,000 at full build-out. In Texas, the company says it has committed $220 million to expand Brownsville and Cameron County water and wastewater infrastructure, including $40 million it says it has already provided. It says the work could add about 20 million gallons of water per day from sources independent of the Rio Grande. Those regional improvements may matter to residents, but the company has not disclosed the Texas facility’s own water use.
Local governments and utilities will have to weigh the proposed economic activity against infrastructure capacity, environmental effects and the terms of any public support. The projects’ scale alone does not establish what costs or benefits residents will ultimately experience; those depend on approvals, utility arrangements and construction details that remain under review.
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Two Different Infrastructure Plans
The Arizona county filing describes a campus with up to nine single-story computing buildings, each about 493,000 square feet. Its first phase is planned at roughly 1,500 megawatts, with the full campus reaching approximately six gigawatts. The application says the site would have no on-site power plant, though it proposes natural-gas standby generators of about 10 megawatts per building for outages and testing. Its water estimate of 7 to 10 acre-feet annually is a project estimate, not a measured operating record.
SpaceX says the Texas land was moved from Brownsville into the City of Starbase as part of a water agreement. The city notice lists an estimated $24 billion in capital investment for initial phases, with possible later expansion. SpaceX’s stated purpose includes training advanced AI systems and testing technology relevant to computing in space. The company had previously promoted orbital data centers as a response to rising AI electricity demand, but these two announced campuses are ground-based projects.
SpaceX announced in February that it had acquired xAI. The source article, citing Reuters, reported that SpaceX’s AI segment generated more than half of the company’s revenue in the third quarter. That figure helps explain the company’s investment focus, but it does not establish the campuses’ final costs, operating plans or local impacts.
““Together, they represent more than $74 billion in planned American investment.””
— SpaceX
Capacity, Costs and Approvals
Neither campus is described as fully approved. The Cochise County application identifies Tombstone Resources L.L.C. as the applicant, and the county documents described in the source do not name SpaceX; the association comes from SpaceX’s own project page and Tombstone’s town-hall statement. The final conditions, construction timetable and whether all proposed phases proceed are not established.
In Texas, the computing facility’s capacity and its direct water use are not specified in the material provided. The size of any property-tax abatement is also unclear. In Arizona, SpaceX’s promised lower electricity bills for local cooperative members depend on an electricity arrangement whose approval by the relevant utility regulator is not established in the source. The actual effects on consumer bills, grid reliability and project costs therefore remain uncertain.
Environmental and infrastructure impacts also require further detail. The Arizona application estimates water use and describes dry cooling, but that is a projection. For Texas, the reported turbine configuration and emissions information come from a local outlet’s account of a regulatory filing. Final permits and operating conditions could clarify those details.
December Decisions and Reviews
On December 9, 2026, the Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the Arizona proposal. The Starbase City Commission is scheduled to consider a property-tax abatement related to the Texas project on the same day. These proceedings are near-term opportunities for officials to review the proposals, but the source material does not say that either meeting will produce final approval of every project component.
Further decisions are expected to depend on local planning and tax proceedings, utility arrangements, and applicable environmental and construction reviews. For readers in both regions, the next concrete information to watch for includes approval conditions, project phasing, power-delivery terms and clearer estimates of local resource use. Until those details are available, the investment totals and infrastructure commitments remain company plans and projections rather than completed facilities or guaranteed community outcomes.
Key Questions
Where are SpaceX’s two proposed AI campuses?
One is planned near Starbase in Texas, on land near the Port of Brownsville. The other is proposed on about 747 acres near Cochise in Cochise County, Arizona.
How much is SpaceX planning to invest?
SpaceX says the plans represent more than $74 billion in combined investment: more than $24 billion in Texas and roughly $50 billion in Arizona. These are planned amounts, not confirmed final spending.
How would the campuses get electricity?
SpaceX says the Texas facility would generate its own electricity at a gas-fired power plant. The Arizona campus is proposed to receive power through local electric cooperatives and a utility-owned substation, reaching about six gigawatts at full build-out, according to the application.
What is known about water use?
The Arizona application estimates 7 to 10 acre-feet per year, mostly for staff, and describes dry cooling. SpaceX has discussed regional water and wastewater improvements in Texas but has not stated how much water the Texas computing facility itself would use.
When will local officials consider the plans?
The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear the Arizona proposal on December 9, 2026. The Starbase City Commission is scheduled that day to consider a property-tax abatement for the Texas project.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
