The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Tuesday (July 7) announced a Request for Information (RFI) to look into launching rockets and recovering spacecraft from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), a region of the United States that extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) out from America's coastlines. "Offshore launch, reentry, and recovery infrastructure could expand operational flexibility, increase capacity, reduce constraints on growing launch demand, and strengthen the nation's commercial and national security space capabilities," acting BOEM Director Matt Giacona said in a bureau statement announcing the RFI.
But while BOEM lauds the development of facilities on the continental shelf as a way to bolster America's space economy and support its ambitious space exploration goals, at least one ocean conservancy group says the plan could have disastrous effects on the ocean.
According to the RFI, BOEM is looking for ideas from private industry on how to use existing offshore infrastructure such as oil and gas drilling platforms, as well as how to establish "new, purpose-built offshore facilities dedicated to commercial space launches, space re-entry, and related activities" on the Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM has jurisdiction over some 3.2 billion acres (1.3 billion hectares) of the shelf.
The announcement builds on a White House Executive Order signed in December 2025 titled "Ensuring American Space Superiority" that aims to boost investment in the American space industry and "unleash commercial development and lay the foundation for a new space age."
Source: www.space.com
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