Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/20/spacex-bought-two-massive-offshore-oil-rigs-as-floating-launchpads-for-starship-rockets.html
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That’s, like, less than a penny on the dollar. It’s no wonder all the oil and gas guys that live around me hate his guts.
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Presumably all of the drilling equipment was removed or is obsolete/broken.
I’d think the oil guys hate him because he made electric cars cool and popular.
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Plus we’re not exactly in the middle of a booming growth period for oil.
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This is not a new idea.
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Next step is stroking a white cat surrounded by henchpersons.
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One wonders about the extra cost of shipping rockets/parts to an offshore rig, compared to a land-based launch facility.
But there’ll be some savings in not having to install a deluge system, for one.
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He’s saving them the cost of decommissioning , although if they’re anything like the oil companies around here (Alberta) they just bugger off and leave it to someone else. They probably hate him because electric cars, etc. Of course, it could just be the background level too 
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I’m not sure anyone claimed it was.
In fact, it’s an idea dating back to the dawn of the Space Age:
(From *The Sky Calls", Russian, 1959)
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Musk also purchased the Fremont, CA NUMMI car plant at a steep discount.
$42 million for an idle plant worth at least 10x more. This article doesn’t give a good figure.
Say what you want about Musk, but he seems to know how to find bargains.
Consider these savings: should be a lot easier to get permits offshore, especially if they’re outside the 200-mile (or whatever the legal line is, permit-wise). And safer. And less fuel required if they launch from the equator.
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“Presumably in homage to the Martian moons.”
Yes, I think it’s safe to say that you wouldn’t otherwise name launch pads Terror and Fear… unless you’re a Saturday morning cartoon villain maybe.
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I guess the idea is that they’ll be manufactured on land, then fuelled, and simply flown to the platform.
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Also, they could park it over (and perhaps drill if necessary) a gas well for instant fuel supply.
If it were anyone else I’d say that planning to launch huge rockets from modified oil rigs and land them there for the next flight was batshit insane. But we used to think that even landing a booster on a seagoing barge was just as loopy.
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Probably. It IS all rather like something out of Thunderbirds or Fireball XL5. 
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