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- SpaceX appears to have acquired two oil rigs that it could turn into launch pads for its future Starship rocket system, NASASpaceflight reported.
- The floating “spaceports” would add to SpaceX’s operations in Boca Chica, Texas, which are undergoing a new environmental review.
- Launching rockets from the water should be less of a nuisance to nearby residents.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
You may know Deimos and Phobos as the names of the moons of Mars. But now, these are also the newly baptized names of two oil rigs off the coast of Texas. These platforms will likely be turned into launch pads for SpaceX Starship rockets, NASASpaceflight reported on Tuesday.
In December 2020, Insider reported that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had moved from California to Texas, an increasingly common trajectory for tech CEOs looking to save on state income taxes.
Since then, Thomas Burghardt and Michael Baylor of NASASpaceflight have identified public documents showing the August 2020 sale of two oil rigs off the coast of Texas to the now bankrupt Valaris oil company. Both platforms sold for $ 3.5 million, Baylor registration requests show.
NASASpaceflight has identified the buyer as Lone Star Mineral Development LLC, which shares leader Bret Johnson with SpaceX. The LLC was incorporated in June 2020. While SpaceX has yet to confirm its involvement in the purchase of the oil rigs, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
A Baylor-identified tweet that Musk sent in June 2020, a week before the LLC was incorporated, further feeds this idea, in which the CEO hinted at building launch “ floating ” space platforms. on the ocean.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2020
Back on land, the SpaceX site in Boca Chica previously hosted prototype launches for the company. The first launch of the Starship prototype, which the company hopes will ultimately lead to the first commercial space flight to Mars, took place in December 2020. The rocket exploded, Insider reported, but the company has always viewed the test as success.
SN9, a new iteration of the prototype, will likely launch this week, weather permitting. The proposed launch of SN9 will be seaside, not on the Phobos and Deimos platforms.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it had purchased the oil rigs or plans for them.
Floating launch pads would offer distinct advantages over land-based launch sites, such as reduced risk to people living nearby and less noise.
The future of these potential platforms that have become launch pads and SpaceX’s operations in Texas in general are still an open question. In December 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a public call for contributions at SpaceX’s launch site in Boca Chica.
Musk said he hopes SpaceX will start sending passenger flights to Mars by 2026.
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