Mayor Eric Garcetti announced April 16 during his state of the city address that Elon Musk’s SpaceX will start building the largest rocket ever, Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), on Terminal Island in the Port of Los Angeles.

The rocket is expected to be used for missions to Mars, and will be able to carry 150 tons powered by 31 Raptor engines.

“This is a vehicle that holds the promise of taking humanity even deeper into the cosmos than ever before,” said Garcetti during the address at City Hall.

“As announced today by Mayor Garcetti, the port will play an increasingly important role in our mission to help make humanity multi-planetary as SpaceX begins production development of BFR — our next generation rocket and spaceship system capable of carrying crew and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond,” said SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell.

Although the lease isn’t official, last week the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners said the potential site would be 18 acres, enough for SpaceX to build 4,400-ton rockets that would need to be moved by water. The rent would be $1.38 million annually for a 10-year lease with two possible 10-year extensions.

Technology reporter Eli Horowitz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachhorowitz13 for the latest in L.A. tech news.