Spacex Buys Two Mining Rigs to Build an Offshore Base for the Starship Spacecraft

SpaceX’s next spacecraft is under development in Texas. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, had previously revealed that SpaceX plans to build a floating spaceport for Starship’s operations after a development director recruitment ad was posted. And this time, the company has purchased two oil mining rigs for this purpose.This information isMichael Baylor on spaceflight.comReporters first reported and confirmed by CNBC.

The mining rigs were named Deimos and Phoibos by SpaceX. This is the name of two satellites on Mars (originally the names of the horror and horror gods of Greek mythology). The mining rig was originally built for deep sea drilling up to a maximum depth of 8500 feet. These mining rigs are currently located in the Gulf of Mexico port city of Brownsville, near SpaceX’s Starship development site in Brownsville, Texas.

These mining rigs are 240 feet x 255 feet in size and will theoretically be reused to support the Starship launch. (The rocket is reusable and can land). So far, SpaceX has launched and landed a Starship prototype at its Bocachica base, but so far it has only been flying low. The company also operates two 300-foot-long, 170-foot-wide drone vessels as autonomous levitation and landing pads for boosters on the current Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX is also looking for someone with resort facility expertise by posting another ad looking for a resort development manager to turn its South Texas facility into a “21st century spaceport.” Meanwhile, Musk admitted in December 2020 that he had moved to Texas at the suggestion of many because of California’s tax and regulatory environment.

Mr. Musk’s other company, Tesla, has also chosen Austin as the location for its next Gigafactory in the United States. It is intended to assemble Model 3 for Cybertruck, Model Y, Tesla Semi and East Coast customers. The company has an engine test facility in McGregor, Texas, while choosing Bocachica as one of its two Starship development sites near Florida. He then integrated Starship’s development there in southern Texas, making it the only focus for spacecraft construction and testing.