SpaceX builds a floating space airport to launch ships to Mars

SpaceX will use the floating offshore airport for the takeoff and landing operations of the Starship carrying people to Mars and the Moon.

Elon Musk's SpaceX company is hiring "offshore operating engineers" to develop the Starship's floating space airport , a new generation transport system designed to send people back and forth between Earth and Moon. , Mars or any destination in deep space. "SpaceX is building a floating aerospace airport for super-heavy launch systems , " Musk confirmed on June 16 on Twitter.

Starship simulation takes off from an offshore launch pad. (Photo: SpaceX).

Building an aerospace airport at sea is not a new idea. SpaceX has long mentioned this design. For example, the Starship graphics introduced by Musk in 2017 depict the rocket duo - the giant spaceship Starship taking off from an offshore launch pad. Earlier this month, Musk shared that SpaceX is considering three launch sites for Starship's first flights, including the coastal Florida, a South Texas facility near the village of Boca Chica, where the Starship prototypes are built and tested, and offshore launch pad. However, the fact that SpaceX hired specialized engineers proves that this idea is mature.

On June 16, Musk also revealed some new details about the launch plan. According to him, the offshore aerospace will not be near the shore to avoid affecting residential areas. Taking off and landing will be quite noisy, but people can observe on boats parked within a few kilometers of the aerospace airport. Here, the US billionaire is referring to Super Heavy , a 31-storey propulsion platform used to get the Starship to carry 100 passengers off the ground. Super Heavy will land on Earth vertically, similar to SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket propellers. The Starship spacecraft will have six separate engines powerful enough to propel the ship to the Moon and Mars, two places with weaker gravity than Earth.

Up to now, only one Starship prototype named Starhopper has  ever successfully flown off the ground. SpaceX is preparing for the unmanned flight of the SN5 prototype to a height of 150 m in South Texas if all goes as planned. Earlier, the SN4 prototype exploded almost immediately after the engine test on May 29.