SpaceX buys two offshore oil platforms to launch rockets from them
Last year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX bought two deep-sea oil platforms and is already converting them into floating launch pads for the Starship super-heavy rockets that the company is currently developing. The installations are located in the Port of Brownsville, near the Starship Research Center in Boca Chica, Texas.
The oil production platforms were renamed Deimos and Phobos, after the Martian satellites. Starship is currently SpaceX’s top priority, and the company raised its latest prototype to an altitude of 12.5 km during a test flight in December. The vehicle completed several tasks, including a pre-landing maneuver, but failed to land successfully.
Open records show that the 8500 and 8501 super deepwater semi-submersible oil rigs were sold for $ 3.5 million each. The former rig owner, Houston, Texas-headquartered Valaris, the world’s largest owner of offshore oil rigs, filed for bankruptcy in August in an effort to ease its heavy debt burden.
According to public records, the pair of platforms were acquired in July 2020 by Lone Star Mineral Development Corporation. The latter was registered in June 2020 in the name of SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen. Shortly before the company was incorporated Lone Star Mineral Development, Mr. Musk in his Twitter said that SpaceX plans to build spaceports floating superheavy class to Mars, the Moon, and hypersonic travel around the Earth.
SpaceX has been publicly hiring people for positions related to maritime operations since last year, the company said it is creating a team of engineers and technicians to design and build a functioning maritime missile system.
