The oil rig idea is brilliant, especially for cargo flights. I.e. the bulk of ne...

CableNinja · 2024-11-20T15:42:05 1732117325

The issue is logistics, and in this case isnt an easy solve.

You have to get fuel, and the rocket, out to a pad in the ocean, and have to deal with a rocket lift on varying conditions.

If you dont want to do most of that, then the only option is putting your manufacturing on the rig too, which negates lifting a rocket, but instead makes the rig huge, and requires having a train of ships in and out 24/7 to keep it supplied.

There was even a company in the late 90s that tried oil rig launch platforms and ultimately abandoned it.

ethbr1 · 2024-11-20T16:52:48 1732121568

Most heavy lift is transported by barge over water anyway.

Since the 2 stages of Starship aren't intended to be road mobile, due to size, there's no transportation benefit to being land-accessible.

So really the main concern is piping propellant... but afaik some rigs off the shallow coast of Texas are directly piped to land?

The main benefit you get is terrifying the FAA et al. less, as the consequences of a missed catch are now out in the ocean.