SpaceX is building a foundry in Bastrop, Texas, to manufacture the hard-to-cast blades and vanes used in natural gas turbines. Elon Musk says the in-house capability could accelerate turbine production by up to 18 months, addressing a critical bottleneck for AI infrastructure. The move comes as hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft increasingly rely on gas turbines to power data centers while waiting for grid upgrades.
The blades, which operate at temperatures up to 3,600°F, require a precise single-crystal casting process mastered by only four companies worldwide. Musk argues the step is necessary because gas turbines will remain essential for supplementing solar power in the near term. SpaceX and Tesla are also scaling solar production to 100GW annually.
The expansion raises environmental concerns. Gas turbines emit pollutants linked to respiratory disease and cancer, and SpaceX’s Memphis data centers have faced lawsuits over alleged permit violations. A study in Virginia found emissions from a single facility could impact millions, causing an estimated 3.4 to 6.5 premature deaths annually.
