--- title: "SpaceX Bought Two Huge Oil Rigs to Use as Floating Launchpads" description: "Public records dug up by NASASpaceflight reporters show that SpaceX bought two deepwater oil rigs last summer to convert them into floating launchpads." date: "2021-01-20" modified: "2021-01-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-oil-rigs-launchpads" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "elon musk" - "launch pad" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Bought Two Huge Oil Rigs to Use as Floating Launchpads ![Public records dug up by NASASpaceflight reporters show that SpaceX bought two deepwater oil rigs last summer to convert them into floating launchpads.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Deimos and Phobos Public records [dug up by reporters for *NASASpaceflight*]() show that SpaceX [bought two deepwater oil rigs]() last summer in order to convert them into floating launchpads. The Elon Musk-led space company renamed the prospective launchpads to Deimos and Phobos, a nod to Mars' two moons. If everything goes according to plan, the launchpads will be used to send the company's massive Starship rocket into orbit — from which SpaceX intends to send travelers to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. ## Offshore Launch SpaceX [started hiring]() for "Offshore operations Engineers" in Brownsville, Texas, close to the company's Starship testing grounds, around the time the oilrigs were bought in June 2020. "SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, Moon and hypersonic travel around Earth," [Musk wrote]() in a tweet at the time. The oil rigs were purchased by Lone Star Mineral Development, a company incorporated just before the purchase and registered in the name of SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen. Ever since the company's Starship spacecraft was [first announced]() in 2017, the plan has always been to launch from offshore platforms, as animations showed. In 2019, Musk [also noted]() that spaceports will "probably need to be \[about\] 20 miles offshore for acceptable noise levels, especially for frequent daily flights." **READ MORE:** [SpaceX bought two former Valaris oil rigs to build floating launchpads for its Starship rocket]() \[*CNBC*\] **More on SpaceX:** *[SpaceX’s “Darkened” Satellites Still Messing Up Research, Astronomers Say]()* ## 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]()