View source for Engineering:Floating launch vehicle operations platform

A '''floating launch vehicle operations platform''' is a marine vessel used for launch or landing operations of an [[Engineering:Orbital spaceflight|orbital]] [[Engineering:Launch vehicle|launch vehicle]] by a [[Engineering:Launch service provider|launch service provider]]: putting satellites into orbit around Earth or another celestial body, or recovering first-stage boosters from orbital-class flights by making a propulsive landing on the platform.
In the early decades of spaceflight technology, all orbital launch vehicle operations were exclusively from land, and all booster stages were [[Engineering:Expendable launch system|expended]] after a single use for nearly 60 years after the first orbital spaceflight, [[Engineering:Sputnik 1|Sputnik 1]].<!-- all orbital launches were from land from 1957 to 1998; and no launch vehicle landings were accomplished ever until 2015 (to land) or 2016 (to a floating marine platform). -->
After the late 1990s and into the 2010s, new marine options for launch were built.  Landing of orbital-class boosters began to be accomplished in 2015.  More platforms, both for launch and landing, are currently in construction or planned.  

Suborbital [[Engineering:Sounding rocket|rockets]] and ballistic missiles had been launched from marine platforms earlier than the 1990s, but are not the topic of this article.

== Platforms to date ==

Both floating launch platform and floating landing platforms have been placed into use by [[Engineering:Orbital spaceflight|orbital]] [[Engineering:Launch service provider|launch service provider]]s as of 2020. Additionally, at least two new rocket landing platforms and one new launch platform are under construction as of 2020.

There are currently at least five instances of marine launch or landing platforms:
* ''Broglio Space Center'' used from 1967 to 1988 for the launch of [[Engineering:Scout (rocket family)|Scout]] rockets in the sea west of Kenya
* ''[[Engineering:Odyssey (launch platform)|Odyssey]]'' used by [[Company:Sea Launch|Sea Launch]] for equatorial [[Earth:Pacific Ocean|Pacific Ocean]] launches of the Zenit-3 rocket from 1999 to 2014, where a total of 36 rocket launches were made.
* Several [[Engineering:Autonomous spaceport drone ship|Autonomous spaceport drone ship]]s are used by [[Company:SpaceX|SpaceX]] to recover and [[Astronomy:Reusable launch vehicle|reuse]] first-stage boosters of its Falcon rocket family. By late 2020, there were approximately [[Engineering:List of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters#Statistics|80 booster landings]] on three different drone ships, all since 2016.<ref name=nsf20200603>{{cite news |title=SpaceX Launches Eighth Starlink Mission, Read The Instructions With East Coast Droneship Debut |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/06/spacex-launch-eighth-starlink-jrti-debut/ |date=3 June 2020 |access-date=30 December 2020 |work=NASASpaceFlight.com }}</ref>
* The Chinese government launched a solid-rocket propelled smallsat payload massing {{cvt|350|kg}} into orbit during 2019 using a {{cvt|21|m|adj=on}}-long [[Engineering:Long March 11|repurposed military ballistic missile]] technology.<ref name=defencepoint20190605/> 
* The [[Company:Blue Origin|Blue Origin]] landing platform ship ''Jacklyn''<ref name=msn20201229>{{cite news |title=Ahoy, Jacklyn! Jeff Bezos names Blue Origin's rocket recovery ship after his mom |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ahoy-jacklyn-jeff-bezos-names-blue-origin-s-rocket-recovery-ship-after-his-mom/ar-BB1ckSeI |work=GeekWire |date=29 December 2020 |access-date=30 December 2020 }}</ref> is undergoing refit in Pensacola, Florida to prepare for [[Engineering:Underway|underway]] ship landings of the booster stage of a new [[Engineering:Launch vehicle|launch vehicle]], the Blue Origin [[Astronomy:New Glenn|New Glenn]], aiming to become the second launch provider to achieve partial reusability of an orbital booster rocket.<ref name=maritimeexec20181023>{{cite web |url=https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/used-ro-ro-will-become-blue-origin-s-rocket-landing-pad |title=Used Ro/Ro Will Become Blue Origin's Rocket Landing Pad |website=The Maritime Executive |date=23 October 2018 |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=7 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707044928/https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/used-ro-ro-will-become-blue-origin-s-rocket-landing-pad |url-status=live }}</ref>{{update after|2023|3|8}}
* SpaceX had planned in 2021 to build two floating launch platforms, ''Phobos'' and ''Deimos'' for their second-generation [[Engineering:SpaceX Starship|Starship system]]. Two deepwater [[Engineering:Drilling rig|oil rigs]] were procured in July 2020, and as of 2021, modifications are underway on the two ships in the Port of Brownsville and Port of Galveston.<ref name=cnbc20200119>{{cite news |title=SpaceX bought two former Valaris oil rigs to build floating launchpads for its Starship rocket |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/19/spacex-bought-former-valaris-oil-rigs-to-build-starship-launchpads.html |work={{wipe|CNBC}} |last=Sheetz|first=Michael |date=19 January 2021 |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref><ref name=nsf20210119>{{cite news |last=Burghardt|first=Thomas |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/01/spacex-rigs-starship-spaceports/ |title=SpaceX acquires former oil rigs to serve as floating Starship spaceports |work=NASASpaceFlight |date=19 January 2021 |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> Plans were for{{clarify|when exactly? they also talked up plans for the sea landing and sea takeoff options during 2021-22|date=March 2023}} both the first stage (Super Heavy) booster and the second stage (Starship) to be landed on land, unlike the many sea landings seen with their Falcon 9 boosters.<ref name=bi20200616>{{cite news |last=Mosher|first=Dave |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starship-ocean-spaceports-offshore-engineer-job-posting-2020-6 |title=Elon Musk: 'SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports' for its Starship rocket to reach the moon, Mars, and fly passengers around Earth |work=Business Insider |date=16 June 2020 |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617073600/https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starship-ocean-spaceports-offshore-engineer-job-posting-2020-6 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, these plans were shelved and the rigs were sold by SpaceX in 2023.<ref name=sn20230214>{{cite news |title=SpaceX drops plans to convert oil rigs into launch platforms |url=https://spacenews.com/spacex-drops-plans-to-covert-oil-rigs-into-launch-platforms/ |work=SpaceNews |last1=Foust|first1=Jeff |date=14 February 2023 |access-date=14 February 2023}}</ref>

In addition to the historical and current platforms, other entities have considered utilizing a floating landing platform.  
* [[Company:Rocket Lab|Rocket Lab]] announced in March 2021 that they are building their new [[Engineering:Medium-lift launch vehicle|medium-lift]] launch vehicle—Neutron—to land the first stage booster on an ocean landing platform.<ref name=sn20210301>{{cite news |title=Rocket Lab to go public through SPAC merger and develop medium-lift rocket |url=https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-to-go-public-through-spac-merger-and-develop-medium-lift-rocket/ |work=SpaceNews |last=Foust|first=Jeff |date=1 March 2021 |access-date=1 March 2021}}</ref> However, the company later announced in a December 2021 update that the rocket would instead return to its launch site, removing the need for any ocean platforms.<ref name=neutronUpdate>{{cite news |title=Rocket Lab's next booster is stubby, reusable, and has a Bond-movie fairing |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/rocket-labs-next-booster-is-stubby-reusable-and-has-a-bond-movie-fairing/ |work=[[Ars Technica]] |last=Berger|first=Eric |date=2 December 2021 |access-date=2 December 2021}}</ref>
* In June 2021, [[Engineering:Astra (American spaceflight company)|Astra]] was evaluating ocean launch platforms as part of their company strategy to have more than a dozen launch locations to support a daily smallsat launch cadence by 2025.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L3lKG6rtUE?t=3555 NSF Live: The future of Astra with Founder and CEO Chris Kemp], NasaSpaceFlight.com, @59:23, 5 June 2021, accessed 14 June 2021.</ref>{{update after|2023|2|15}}

== History ==

=== Floating launch platforms ===
Orbital launch platforms were initially{{when|date=December 2020}} modified ships,{{cn|date=December 2020}}<!-- what ships were modified for which orbital rocket launches?  Not finding any source in the article, nor in the predecessor articles that supports this statement. --> but specific platforms were later produced specifically to be orbital launch vessels.<!-- e.g., Odyssey, which needs a source also -->

The concept was pioneered in the late 1990s by a US, Russian, Norwegian and Ukrainian commercial consortium.<ref name=energia20010214>{{cite news |url=http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/sea-launch/partner.html |title=The Sea Launch Partnership |publisher=Energia |date=14 February 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010214235743/http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/sea-launch/partner.html |archive-date=14 February 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Chinese space agency did their first orbital launch from a ship in 2019. It was unclear if the shipboard launch was a special demonstration mission, or if China was putting a new launch service provider capability into place.<ref name=defencepoint20190605>{{cite news |title=China launches first space rocket from a sea platform |work=DefencePoint.com |date=5 June 2019 |url=https://defence-point.com/2019/06/05/china-launches-first-space-rocket-from-a-sea-platform/ |access-date=30 December 2020 }}</ref>

=== Floating landing platforms ===
All early [[Engineering:Orbital spaceflight|orbital]] launch vehicle stages were [[Engineering:Expendable launch system|expended]], the booster stages were destroyed when re-entering the atmosphere or on impact with the ground or ocean. After over four years of [[Engineering:SpaceX reusable launch system development program|research and technology development]], [[Company:SpaceX|SpaceX]] first landed [[Engineering:Falcon 9|Falcon 9]] boosters on land in 2015,<ref name=verge20211221>{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/21/10640306/spacex-elon-musk-rocket-landing-success |title=SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket after launching it to space |work=[[The Verge]] |first=Loren|last=Grush |date=21 December 2015 |access-date=4 June 2021}}</ref> on a floating landing platform in 2016,<ref name=natgeo20160408/> and has been reusing boosters routinely since 2017, with most of the recovered boosters landing on a platform at sea.

After attempts to land orbital rocket booster stages by [[Engineering:Parachute|parachute]] failed in the late 2000s, [[Company:SpaceX|SpaceX]] began to develop [[Astronomy:Reusable launch system|reusable technology]] in the early 2010s, when they contracted with a Louisiana [[Engineering:Shipyard|shipyard]] to build a floating landing platform to land [[Engineering:SpaceX launch vehicles|their launch vehicles]]. The platform had an approximately {{convert|90|x|50|m|sp=us}} landing pad surface and was capable of precision [[Earth:Dynamic positioning|positioning]] with diesel-powered [[Engineering:Azimuth thruster|azimuth thruster]]s<ref name=tm20141122>{{cite web|title=SpaceX Announces Spaceport Barge Positioned by Thrustmaster's Thrusters|url=http://www.thrustmaster.net/spacex-announces-spaceport-barge-positioned-thrustmasters-thrusters/|publisher=Thrustmaster|access-date=23 November 2014|date=22 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207091326/http://www.thrustmaster.net/out-drive-propulsion-unit/portable-dynamic-positioning-system/|archive-date=7 December 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> so the platform can hold its position for launch vehicle landing. This platform was first deployed in January 2015<ref name=nsf20141217>{{cite news|last1=Bergin|first1=Chris|title=SpaceX confirms CRS-5 launch slip to 6 January|url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/12/spacex-static-fire-falcon-9-crs-5/|access-date=18 December 2014|work=NASASpaceFlight.com|date=17 December 2014}}</ref> when SpaceX attempted a controlled descent [[Engineering:Flight test|flight test]] to land the first stage of Falcon 9 flight 14 on a solid surface after it was used to loft a contracted payload toward Earth orbit.<ref name=sn20141024>{{cite news|last1=Foust|first1=Jeff|title=Next Falcon 9 Launch Could See First-stage Platform Landing|url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/42305next-falcon-9-launch-could-see-first-stage-platform-landing|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141025142556/http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/42305next-falcon-9-launch-could-see-first-stage-platform-landing|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2014|access-date=25 October 2014|work=Space News|date=25 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=tr20141026>{{cite news|last1=Bullis|first1=Kevin|title=SpaceX Plans to Start Reusing Rockets Next Year|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/532066/spacex-plans-to-start-reusing-rockets-next-year/|access-date=26 October 2014|work=MIT Technology Review|date=25 October 2014}}</ref> The platform utilizes [[Engineering:Global Positioning System|GPS]] [[Engineering:Differential GPS|position information]] to navigate and hold its precise position.<ref name=ft20141024>{{cite news|last1=Dean|first1=James|title=SpaceX to attempt Falcon 9 booster landing on floating platform|url=http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/spacex/2014/10/24/spacex-attempt-falcon-booster-landing-floating-platform/17847817/|access-date=27 October 2014|date=24 October 2014}}</ref> The rocket landing leg span is {{convert|60|ft|m|disp=flip|abbr=on}} and must not only land within the {{convert|170|ft|m|disp=flip|abbr=on|adj=on}}-wide barge deck, but must also deal with [[Physics:Swell (ocean)|ocean swells]] and GPS errors.
SpaceX CEO [[Biography:Elon Musk|Elon Musk]] first displayed a photograph of the newly designated "[[Engineering:Autonomous spaceport drone ship|autonomous spaceport drone ship]]" in November 2014. The ship is designed to hold position to within {{convert|3|m|sp=us}}, even under storm conditions.<ref name=musk20141122>{{cite web|last1=Musk|first1=Elon|title=Autonomous spaceport drone ship|url=https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/536262624653365248|publisher=SpaceX|access-date=23 November 2014|date=22 November 2014}}</ref>

On 8 April 2016, the first stage of the rocket that launched the {{ComV|Dragon|C110}}&nbsp;spacecraft ahead of [[Engineering:SpaceX CRS-8|CRS-8]], successfully landed on the drone ship named ''Of Course I Still Love You,'' the first successful landing of a rocket booster on a floating platform.<ref name=natgeo20160408>{{cite news |url=http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/08/spacex-rocket-makes-spectacular-landing-on-drone-ship/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420062151/http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/08/spacex-rocket-makes-spectacular-landing-on-drone-ship/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 20, 2016 |title=SpaceX Rocket Makes Spectacular Landing on Drone Ship |publisher=[[Organization:National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] |first=Nadia|last=Drake |date=8 April 2016 |access-date=April 8, 2016 |quote=To space and back, in less than nine minutes? Hello, future.}}</ref>
By early 2018, SpaceX had two operational drone ships and had a third under construction.  By September 2018, sea platform landings had become routine for the [[Engineering:SpaceX launch vehicles|SpaceX launch vehicles]], with over 23 attempted and 17 successful recoveries.<ref name=nsf20180719>
[https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/07/spacex-five-recoveries-less-two-weeks-fleet-activity/ SpaceX to attempt five recoveries in less than two weeks as fleet activity ramps up], NASAspaceflight.com, 19 July 2018, accessed 2 August 2018.</ref>

{{asof|2018}}, [[Company:Blue Origin|Blue Origin]] is intending to make the first stage boosters of [[Astronomy:New Glenn|New Glenn]] be [[Astronomy:Reusable launch vehicle|reusable]], and recover launched boosters on the [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic Ocean]], downrange of their Florida launch site, via a stabilized ship that is [[Engineering:Underway|underway]], acting as a moving floating landing platform. The hydrodynamically-stabilized ship is projected to increase the likelihood of successful recovery in [[Earth:Sea state|rough seas]].<ref name=nsf20180920>
{{cite news |last=Burghardt|first=Thomas |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/09/new-shepard-blue-origin-billion-new-glenn/ |title=Building on New Shepard, Blue Origin to pump a billion dollars into New Glenn readiness |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |date=20 September 2018 |access-date=22 September 2018 }}</ref>  

In October 2018, the ship was disclosed to be the ''LPV'', built in 2004 as a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship.  The ''LPV'' was undergoing [[Engineering:Refit|refit]] in 2018–2019 in Pensacola, Florida.<ref name=pnj20181024>[https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2018/10/24/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-rocket-landing-ship-docked-pensacola-port/1739488002/ Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin ship to be used for rocket landings docked at Port of Pensacola], Pensacola News Journal, 24 October 2018, accessed 4 November 2018.</ref>{{update after|2021|6|4}}<!-- ship has now been renamed, is farther along in refit, but has been delayed since first [[Astronomy:New Glenn|New Glenn]] launch is now not 'til 2022 -->

== Operation ==
Floating platforms have the benefit of being able to receive or launch space launch vehicles out on the open ocean to keep the operation away from populated areas, for reasons of safety.<ref name=sdc20200617>{{cite news |title=SpaceX wants to build an offshore spaceport near Texas for Starship Mars rocket |url=https://www.space.com/spacex-mars-starship-off |work=Space.com |last=Wall|first=Mike |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>

Floating launch platforms can be moved substantial distances across the ocean, to be repositioned for launches.<ref name=portnews20200326>[https://en.portnews.ru/digest/21661/ Floating Platform Of Sea Launch Project Arrives In Russia's Far East], Portnews, 26 March 2020, accessed 19 December 2020</ref> I 

The use of a floating launch platform allows for the rocket to be positioned more easily than with a fixed launch pad on land. For example, Sea Launch moved their platform closer to Earth's equator to gain a bit of extra [[Physics:Momentum|momentum]] and gain additional performance from the rocket. The Chinese Long March 11 did something similar for its 2019 sea launch.<ref name=allianz20190702>{{cite web |title=Space: China launches first rocket from the sea |work=Allianz Partners |date=2 July 2019 |url=https://allianzpartners-bi.com/news/space-china-launches-first-rocket-from-the-sea-98fa-333d4.html |access-date=30 December 2020 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Watercraft]]

<!-- how should this article be "Infobox"ed or other wiki-editing things for such a very broad class of maritime vessel/watercraft as these platforms are?  e.g., one of the five extant examples through 2020 is not even technically a ship, although it operates free in the water sometimes for days at a time, it is a barge, towed by a tug out to its deployment location each time before being left as an autonomous "ship", holding position in the sea telerobotically. -->

{{Sourceattribution|Floating launch vehicle operations platform}}