SpaceX plans to build floating spaceports for Moon, Mars missions
What's the story
We all know the ambitions of Elon Musk's SpaceX. The company is building a super-heavy 'Starship' with the ultimate goal of reaching Mars and making humans a multi-planetary species. Now, in a crucial step in this direction, Musk has announced the plan to build floating, super-heavy-class spaceports for launching and landing these Starships on a regular basis. Here's more about it.
Recruitment
Hiring of experts in Offshore operations
Just recently, SpaceX listed job ads looking for experts in "Offshore Operations" in Brownsville, Texas. The listing said that the chosen candidate will have to work with a team of engineers and technicians "to design and build an operational offshore rocket launch facility," leading SpaceXFleet to speculate that the company is gearing up to build seaport it had previously teased in Starship launch renders.
Confirmation
Then, Musk offered a confirmation
As the news surfaced, Musk shared tweets confirming the speculation. "SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth," the billionaire tech mogul said in the post. He did not say when exactly the ports would be ready but noted that the first test flights for point-to-point hypersonic travel around Earth would begin in 2-3 years.
Prototypes
Starship prototypes are already being prepped
The work on the seaborne spaceports comes as SpaceX continues to build and test prototypes of Starship rockets at its facilities. After a few failures, the company's Starship SN4 prototype was able to clear a major cryogenic pressure test in April-end and is now moving towards short-hop flights, which will pave the way for initial orbital test flights in the coming months.
Plan
This will lead to the development of final Starship
The orbital flight and the ensuing tests will help SpaceX prepare the final version of Starship and Super Heavy, the liquid-oxygen powered booster that will propel Starship into space. That finalized 160-feet-tall rocket (and its siblings) will eventually be launched from the now-announced spaceports to fly humans and cargo weighing up to 100 tons to Moon, Mars, and around Earth at hypersonic speeds.
Information
Point-to-point travel will cut down cost and time
When enabled, point-to-point travel through fully reusable Starship could greatly reduce the cost and time of travel around Earth. In 2017, Musk had said that the rocket would fly close to the edge of the atmosphere and cover Delhi to San Francisco in just 40-minutes.