Private aerospace company SpaceX is getting ready for launches from an ocean spaceport. The company said that it will soon launch Starship from ocean spaceport. A spaceport is a site that is used for launching and receiving space vehicles. This will be SpaceX’s first launch from an ocean spaceport. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that the spaceport is currently under construction. He said that it will be ready to launch rockets soon. The company is targeting to launch Starship from the site next year. SpaceX in 2020 purchased two oil rigs. The company is currently transforming them into launch pads. The rigs will also be used as landing sites for rockets.
SpaceX is working on a next-generation spacecraft. The space vehicle will take humans deep into space, Moon, and Mars. The company wants to develop a reusable system. The rigs will receive spacecraft on the return journey. The rigs have been named after the moons of Mars. The sites will be called Phobos and Deimos. Both are natural satellites of the Red Planet. Phobos is the innermost Moon on the planet. It is larger than Deimos. Deimos is the outermost Moon. The two moons were first discovered in 1877. The sites are under construction at the Port of Brownsville. It is located in the southernmost part of Texas. SpaceX had purchased rigs from Valaris.
Elon Musk had earlier set a deadline to make at least one of the spaceports operational by the end of 2021. However, several logistical challenges have delayed the work during the pandemic. Musk is optimistic that the sites will become ready for use in 2022. Several floating spaceports are currently under construction in different parts of the world. If SpaceX succeeds in making the spaceports operations next year, it will be the first of its kind to be used for launching rockets. SpaceX will use the sites for launching Starship. The rocket is currently under development. Once ready, it will be used for point-to-point flights around Earth.
