--- title: "Elon Musk: SpaceX Building Floating Spaceports for Moon, Mars Launches" description: "An eagle-eyed SpaceX enthusiast spotted a job listing for an Offshore Operations Engineer in Browsnville, Texas. Part of the new position’s responsibilities include leading “of a team of engineers and technicians to design and build an operational offshore rocket launch facility.” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was quick to point out that the information was legit. […]" date: "2020-06-16" modified: "2020-06-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-spacex-floating-spaceports" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Mars" - "Moon" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk: SpaceX Building Floating Spaceports for Moon, Mars Launches ![]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Offshore Rockets An eagle-eyed SpaceX enthusiast [spotted]() a job listing for an Offshore Operations Engineer in Brownsville, Texas. The [new position]()'s responsibilities include leading "of a team of engineers and technicians to design and build an operational offshore rocket launch facility." SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was quick to confirm that the listing is legit — and part of a much bigger plan. "SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth," [Musk wrote]() in a Twitter reply Tuesday afternoon. ## BFR Brownsville is close to the company's Boca Chica, Texas testing site where it is developing prototypes of its Starship spacecraft. [Early animations]() for SpaceX's grand vision of its Starship spacecraft — a vehicle currently in its prototype phase that is designed to one day carry 100 passengers to the Moon and Mars — did include offshore landing pads. In November 2019, Musk [tweeted]() that "most Starship spaceports will probably need to be \[about\] 20 miles offshore for acceptable noise levels, especially for frequent daily flights, as would occur for point to point flights on Earth," referring to his space company's plans to use Starship as [a space-based long-haul transporter]() as well. ## Convergence To reach these floating spaceports, Musk envisions to dig tunnels under the water — something his other business, [The Boring Company](), is already working on. According to Musk, the system might even incorporate hyperloop transportation, [another of his side projects](). "Referb oil platforms with a hyperloop to transport from land?!" [asked]() Twitter user Russ Parrish. "Pretty much," Musk [replied](). SpaceX has some familiarity with landing platforms, albeit on a substantially smaller scale. The company has been using [drone ships]() to allow rocket boosters to land upon their descent. **More on SpaceX:** [*SpaceX Is Now Taking Requests for Starlink Beta Testers*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()