Commercial space flight operator SpaceX has purchased two oil rigs from Valaris for conversion into seagoing rocket launch pads, according to multiple reports and court records.
Orbital launch trajectories are heavily affected by location, and a sea-based launch site allows the operator to optimize the rocket's payload capacity and reduce cost for the mission.
The concept has been used successfully before. In 1999, the space company Sea Launch converted a used MODU into a launch pad for Ukrainian-built Zenit rockets. It ran a successful commercial service for communications satellite deployments until 2014, when it ceased operations due to military and political developments in Ukraine. Over the span of 15 years in business, Sea Launch put more than 30 payloads into orbit from its sea-based platform. The Chinese government still uses a similar ship-based arrangement for launching its Long March 11 rockets from the Yellow Sea.
SpaceX's two rigs - the former Ensco 8500 and Ensco 8501 - have been renamed Deimos and Phobos, names shared by two of the moons of Mars. They are currently located at the port of Brownsville, Texas.
According to CNBC, a SpaceX subsidiary purchased the two units from Valaris shortly before the rig operator declared bankruptcy last August.
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