Louisiana Inks BEAD Contract with SpaceX

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2026 – Louisiana has finalized its grant agreement with SpaceX under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the state said Thursday.

The satellite operator is set to serve 10,635 homes and businesses in the state for about $8.2 million, based on the state’s approved BEAD spending plan.

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The agreement came after the state signed the rest of its ISP awards in January and February. SpaceX had told state broadband offices around that time that it could be “untenable” for low-Earth orbit broadband providers like itself to participate in BEAD if they weren’t exempt from certain performance testing requirements.

That was after SpaceX and Amazon Leo had already bid on and won more than 22 percent of the program’s eligible locations nationally, but the Commerce Department still publicly shot down the idea. SpaceX has since come to agreements with multiple states.

Amazon pulled out of Nebraska, but Texas’s broadband office said the state was finalizing a deal with the company last week. The company hasn’t responded to inquiries about why it backed out of its Nebraska award.

In a release Thursday, Louisiana’s broadband office said the agreement with SpaceX would “deliver access” to the locations it committed to serve by the end of the summer.

Under typical BEAD rules, customers have to sign up for service on a LEO provider’s website. A free dish would then be sent to the subscriber’s house for them to install.

Dishes retail for $349 or can be rented for $10 per month. The grant funding is mostly to ensure sufficient network capacity for service that meets BEAD’s minimum standards.

A recent Ookla study found that about 45 percent of SpaceX’s U.S. customers experienced speeds exceeding that threshold, but that the number was rising over time even as the company added customers.

Customers can also pay extra for professional installation, which can be beneficial depending on a location's tree cover. That service starts at $185 in the continental U.S. or $380 in Alaska and Hawaii, plus the price of the mounting equipment, according to the company’s website.

SpaceX increased its default residential prices last month, but has been offering lower promotional prices in rural areas that some cable operators have taken notice of. SpaceX’s cheapest residential plan is $55 per month.

“Louisiana’s broadband office is committed to protecting taxpayer funds and ensuring that those funds are put to good use,” Veneeth Iyengar , executive director of the state’s broadband office, said in a statement. “With the state’s partnership with SpaceX, we will be able to work toward fully connecting Louisiana in a cost-effective manner while maximizing the impact of public investments.”

SpaceX, controlled by Elon Musk , is planning to go public Friday. The company is looking to raise $75 billion, which would value it at $1.77 trillion and make it the largest IPO ever.

Correction: A previous version of this story said SpaceX was receiving $82 million in BEAD funding in Louisiana. The true number is $8.2 million.