SpaceX just set a bold plan into motion…

SpaceX is doing something else that’s pretty incredible. It just purchased two floating oil rigs. The company is now working to convert both rigs into floating spaceports that can support future rocket launches.

Of course, this is just a rendering. But it’s pretty much exactly what the spaceport will look like in real life. These floating spaceports will support standard launch missions. This is something Elon Musk will be able to pull off. If it were anyone else, we would be rightfully skeptical. And in typical Musk fashion, the names are quite interesting. 

The spaceports are dubbed “Deimos” and “Phobos,” named for Mars’ two moons. SpaceX intends to launch both its Falcon 9 and its Falcon Heavy rockets from these spaceports. The Falcon 9 is the rocket that SpaceX has been using to launch its Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).  And the Falcon Heavy is the rocket that will launch the Starship and other spacecraft directly to the Moon and Mars. And that leads us to the question of why. Why a floating spaceport?  

SpaceX has so many upcoming missions that it needs flexibility for where the upcoming launches will occur. Two floating spaceports will provide for even more launch capabilities at a more regular frequency.

 But there’s a bigger motive at work here… In addition to establishing a manned presence on the Moon and Mars, SPACE X also has ambitions for hypersonic commercial travel !!  This is a step up from supersonic travel! 

Hypersonic travel involves launching a spacecraft at extremely high altitudes, just above the Kármán Line – the boundary between Earth and space. From there, the aircraft can travel much faster than it could if it were flying at lower altitudes within the Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, passengers could fly from New York City to Tokyo in a matter of hours. But here’s the thing!

Hypersonic flights would be expensive. As such, it would only make sense for these flights to be planned around the wealthiest cities in the world. From an American perspective, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, D.C., and San Francisco come to mind.  These cities are highly dense urban areas on the coast. It’s unlikely that there is room to build out an operational spaceport anywhere in or around these cities, at least not in the next several years.  

Yet a floating spaceport would be the perfect solution… It wouldn’t require the lengthy and difficult process of permitting and purchasing land to build the spaceport. Simply tow a floating spaceport into place offshore, and SpaceX would be ready for operations.  So I think SpaceX will use these spaceports for future missions to the ISS as a proof of concept.

It will acquire more floating oil rigs, convert them to spaceports, and locate them in the waters around the world’s wealthiest cities as a means of launching its hypersonic civilian travel business.  It’s a deviously brilliant plan. And what a way to travel. I can’t wait to be able to fly to places like Tokyo in just two or three hours.