SpaceX Repurposing Oil Rigs From Bankrupt Valaris as Floating Launch Pads

As with nearly every other project Elon Musk is involved with, his SpaceX is going a novel route with its rocket launches. Various media outlets reported on Tuesday that the space exploration company plans to launch rockets from a pair of oil rigs recently purchased from Valaris, the once-mighty offshore drilling contractor that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August. The pair, now named Deimos and Phobos (apparently after the two moons of Mars), will be used as launchpads and for other purposes for the exploration company's planned Starship, a two-stage vehicle currently undergoing tests.