ENSCO rig similar to Phobos and Deimos
An oil rig in the same class as the ones SpaceX purchased with plans to convert into launch platforms. SpaceX has since dropped those plans and sold the rigs. Credit: ENSCO

SpaceX has abandoned efforts to convert two oil rigs into launch platforms for its Starship vehicle, but the company still believes that offshore launch platforms will be part of its long-term plans.

This post is only available to members.

Jeff Foust has more than a decade of experience writing about space policy, entrepreneurial ventures and regulatory affairs. In 2001, he established spacetoday.net to aggregate and summarize the day's space-related news stories. In 2003, he started The...