---
title: "Here’s What SpaceX’s Massive New Floating Spaceport Look Like Up Close"
description: "Thanks to recent photos, we get to see the massive scale of the two oil rigs purchased by SpaceX with the intent to convert them into floating spaceports."
date: "2021-01-22"
modified: "2021-01-22"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-floating-spaceports-photos"
categories:
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
  - "the digest"
---

# Here’s What SpaceX’s Massive New Floating Spaceport Look Like Up Close

![Thanks to recent photos, we get to see the massive scale of the two oil rigs purchased by SpaceX with the intent to convert them into floating spaceports.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/spacex-floating-spaceports-photos.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Image via Pixabay\</em\>*

## Deimos and Phobos

SpaceX has [bought two huge oil rigs](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-oil-rigs-launchpads>) to convert into floating spaceports for its Mars-bound Starship spacecraft. Named Phobos and Deimos, after the two Martian moons, SpaceX intends the massive structures to support super heavy lift launches.

Thanks to recently captured photos, now we get to see the enormous scale of the two rigs.

Shrouded in mist off the port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, Phobos stands out like a sore thumb. The derrick, the tower of steel meant to hold the rig's drilling apparatus, towers above its surroundings — almost as if a Starship was already perched on the platform ready for liftoff.

https://twitter.com/TheFavoritist/status/1352708448274804742

As spotted by aerospace and launch photographer Jack Beyer, the two platforms were even [given nameplates](<https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1351332065283895297>) in line with their new names.

https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1351331758084661252

## Floating Spaceports

Converting oil rigs as means to launch its spacecraft has been part of SpaceX's plans for a while.

"SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, Moon and hypersonic travel around Earth," CEO Elon Musk wrote in a [June 2020 tweet](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1272972228326379520>).

It's still unclear when SpaceX will end up starting work on converting the two rigs. But if its recent development of its Starship spacecraft is anything to go by, we should expect to see some modifications being made to the oil rigs sooner than later.

**More on the platforms:** [*SpaceX Bought Two Huge Oil Rigs to Use as Floating Launchpads*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-oil-rigs-launchpads>)

## 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](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)