SpaceX to build floating spaceports for rockets to the Moon and Mars, and hypersonic Earth travel
Elon Musk is inventing numerous industries and has ambitions to create the first human colony on Mars, and he's getting closer to realising his goals.
Key takeaways
- Musk said on Twitter that this was the purpose behind the new job posting, which was originally spotted by Dan Paasch.
- Anywhere on Earth in under an hour Point-to-point space-based transportation is not a new concept, and others beyond SpaceX are working on developing ways to make this happen.
- In fact, SpaceX claimed during a presentation in 2017 that point-to-point transportation with its Starship could reach any city on Earth from any other city in less than an hour.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2020) 'SpaceX to build floating spaceports for rockets to the Moon and Mars, and hypersonic Earth travel', 311 Institute, 20 June. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/spacex-to-build-floating-spaceports-for-rockets-bound-for-the-moon-and-mars-and-hypersonic-earth-travel/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
A while ago I discussed how Elon Musk and SpaceX were planning on, on the one hand build a colony of over one million people on Mars starting from 2024, and on the other transport people around the world at over Mach 25 using reusable passenger rockets. And now SpaceX has announced it’s hiring experts in “Offshore Operations in Brownsville,” the purpose of which is “to help the company develop and build floating spaceports that will provide launch sites for the company’s Super Heavy-class launch vehicles.” SpaceX will use these larger rockets to get its forthcoming large payload rockets to the moon, to Mars, and also for point-to-point travel right here on Earth, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk himself.
Musk said on Twitter that this was the purpose behind the new job posting, which was originally spotted by Dan Paasch. SpaceX has previously shown concepts of its forthcoming Super Heavy rocket booster, paired with its Starship spacecraft, launching for hypersonic Earth travel, which would reduce the trip time for long-haul flights to merely a couple of hours. Those concepts have thus far consisted only of renders, however, and we didn’t know what the plan was in terms of how and from where those spacecraft would launch until today.
Post on X
SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth https://t.co/zLJjz43hKw
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2020
Starship and Super Heavy are primarily being developed to help SpaceX and Musk realize their goal of delivering humans to Mars, in order to colonize that and other interstellar destinations, including the moon to “make humans an interstellar species.” But while those goals may seem out of reach to most people, the company’s aims of using the same fully reusable spacecraft to greatly decrease the cost of point-to-point supersonic travel here on Earth are likely to be much more relevant.
Anywhere on Earth in under an hour
Point-to-point space-based transportation is not a new concept, and others beyond SpaceX are working on developing ways to make this happen.
The idea is that by traveling at the edge of, or beyond Earth’s atmosphere, you can greatly reduce the fuel cost and duration of flight, traveling the distance between New York and Paris, for instance, in under an hour. In fact, SpaceX claimed during a presentation in 2017 that point-to-point transportation with its Starship could reach any city on Earth from any other city in less than an hour.
SpaceX has been developing Starship in Texas, near Brownsville where this new job posting is seeking Offshore Operations Engineers. The company has been expanding its testing and development site in the area, and has also sought to increase the resources dedicated to its operations in the state.
Musk didn’t share much more about the plans, but did allude to the fact that these new “Space ports” could be serviced by autonomous passenger ferries as well as Hyperloops, a futuristic “train in a vacuum tube,” that could transport people to the sites from cities all around the US at speeds of over Mach 1. And after a year or so of talking about it it’s awesome to finally see the plans moving ahead.
What this means for your organisation
Launch moves offshore.
Floating sites keep noise and risk away from cities. That makes frequent launches more feasible.
Long haul could take hours.
Rocket hops between cities would reshape business travel. Airlines face a potential new rival.
Ports gain a new role.
Offshore operations need marine skills and infrastructure. Port operators may find new customers.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- How would hour long global trips change our travel plans?
- Could our ports or marine skills support floating launch sites?
- Which aviation routes would rocket travel threaten first?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
Elon Musk is inventing numerous industries and has ambitions to create the first human colony on Mars, and he's getting closer to realising his goals.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- View on X → twitter.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 20 June 2020. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2020). SpaceX to build floating spaceports for rockets to the Moon and Mars, and hypersonic Earth travel. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/spacex-to-build-floating-spaceports-for-rockets-bound-for-the-moon-and-mars-and-hypersonic-earth-travel/
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