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SpaceX is turning oil rigs into floating Starship spaceports named after Mars’ moons
Update: Responsible for initially connecting Phobos and Deimos to SpaceX, NASASpaceflight has all the details in a new article published earlier today. Check out their coverage for more information and some excellent photos – from the ground and the air – of one of the newest additions to SpaceX’s seagoing fleet.
Six months after CEO Elon Musk revealed that “SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports” for its next-generation Starship rocket, the company has already purchased and begun converting at least two retired oil rigs.
In a rapid-fire series of investigations spurred by recent photos and suspicions published by photographer Jack Beyer, it was quickly determined that an oil rig mothballed for years in Port of Brownsville and a twin ship in nearby Galveston were purchased by “an undisclosed buyer” for ~$7 million in July 2020. Weeks later, owner Valaris (formerly EnscoRowan) officially filed for bankruptcy, explaining the sale of multiple half-billion-dollar assets for scrap prices.
An offshore drilling contractor and owner of one the largest fleets of oil and gas drilling rigs in the world, ENSCO built seven 8500-series deep-water, semi-submersible oil rigs in the late 2000s and early 2010s. ENSCO 8506, the last in the series, was built for an incredible $560 million from 2008 to 2012. Thanks to the crashing oil and gas market, SpaceX is now the proud owner of 8500 and 8501 – the first two ships in the series – for a mere $7 million.
It was quickly determined by NASASpaceflight reporter Michael Baylor that shell company Lone Star Mineral Development purchased the rigs. In the tweet’s replies, another user discovered that the LLC was directly connected to SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen, indisputably confirming that SpaceX was the new owner of both oil rigs.
In its first act as owner, SpaceX fittingly renamed the rigs Deimos (8500) and Phobos (8501). While subverting the SpaceX norm of naming rocket landing platforms after starships from science fiction author Iain Banks’ Culture universe, the moons of Mars are a more than fitting alternative given the company’s intense focus on building a sustainable city on the planet.
The purpose of the newest additions to SpaceX’s fleet is both simple and unclear. While the company is currently hard at work building out a land-based launch complex for orbital Starship-Super Heavy launches, vast floating launch and landing platforms have also featured in SpaceX’s official artist concepts of the rocket for the last several years. At first centered on enabling suborbital airline-style Starship flights to and from coastal cities, where sea-based platforms would be a necessity to avoid domestic regulations and extreme noise pollution, Musk ultimately positioned sea-launch as a viable alternative or complement to any and all land-based Starship launch operations.
Most recently, in June 2020, the CEO stated that SpaceX “is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, Moon, & hypersonic travel around Earth.” Now, with work already clearly underway to convert at least two oil rigs into Starship launch and landing platforms, that concept is far closer to reality. It remains to be seen how extensive (and thus expensive) the changes SpaceX needs to make to the platforms will be but it’s safe to say that the venture is a whole lot more plausible when a dying industry’s asset depreciation is so intense that a billion dollars worth of oil rig hardware can be bought for a mere $7 million just a decade after completion.
Tesla’s new Full Self-Driving pricing strategy will eliminate one recurring complaint that many owners have had in the past: FSD transfers.
In the past, if a Tesla owner purchased the Full Self-Driving suite outright, the company did not allow them to transfer the purchase to a new vehicle, essentially requiring them to buy it all over again, which could obviously get pretty pricey.
This was until Q3 2023, when Tesla allowed a one-time amnesty to transfer Full Self-Driving to a new vehicle, and then again last year.
Tesla is now allowing it to happen again ahead of the February 14th deadline.
The program has given people the opportunity to upgrade to new vehicles with newer Hardware and AI versions, especially those with Hardware 3 who wish to transfer to AI4, without feeling the drastic cost impact of having to buy the $8,000 suite outright on several occasions.
Now, that issue will never be presented again.
Last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on X that the Full Self-Driving suite would only be available in a subscription platform, which is the other purchase option it currently offers for FSD use, priced at just $99 per month.
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Having it available in a subscription-only platform boasts several advantages, including the potential for a tiered system that would potentially offer less expensive options, a pay-per-mile platform, and even coupling the program with other benefits, like Supercharging and vehicle protection programs.
While none of that is confirmed and is purely speculative, the one thing that does appear to be a major advantage is that this will completely eliminate any questions about transferring the Full Self-Driving suite to a new vehicle. This has been a particular point of contention for owners, and it is now completely eliminated, as everyone, apart from those who have purchased the suite on their current vehicle.
Now, everyone will pay month-to-month, and it could make things much easier for those who want to try the suite, justifying it from a financial perspective.
The important thing to note is that Tesla would benefit from a higher take rate, as more drivers using it would result in more data, which would help the company reach its recently-revealed 10 billion-mile threshold to reach an Unsupervised level. It does not cost Tesla anything to run FSD, only to develop it. If it could slice the price significantly, more people would buy it, and more data would be made available.
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Tesla Model 3 and Model Y dominates U.S. EV market in 2025
The figures were detailed in Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y continued to overwhelmingly dominate the United States’ electric vehicle market in 2025. New sales data showed that Tesla’s two mass market cars maintained a commanding segment share, with the Model 3 posting year-to-date growth and the Model Y remaining resilient despite factory shutdowns tied to its refresh.
The figures were detailed in Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report.
Model 3 and Model Y are still dominant
According to the report, Tesla delivered an estimated 192,440 Model 3 sedans in the United States in 2025, representing a 1.3% year-to-date increase compared to 2024. The Model 3 alone accounted for 15.9% of all U.S. EV sales, making it one of the highest-volume electric vehicles in the country.
The Model Y was even more dominant. U.S. deliveries of the all-electric crossover reached 357,528 units in 2025, a 4.0% year-to-date decline from the prior year. It should be noted, however, that the drop came during a year that included production shutdowns at Tesla’s Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Texas as the company transitioned to the new Model Y. Even with those disruptions, the Model Y captured an overwhelming 39.5% share of the market, far surpassing any single competitor.
Combined, the Model 3 and Model Y represented more than half of all EVs sold in the United States during 2025, highlighting Tesla’s iron grip on the country’s mass-market EV segment.
Tesla’s challenges in 2025
Tesla’s sustained performance came amid a year of elevated public and political controversy surrounding Elon Musk, whose political activities in the first half of the year ended up fueling a narrative that the CEO’s actions are damaging the automaker’s consumer appeal. However, U.S. sales data suggest that demand for Tesla’s core vehicles has remained remarkably resilient.
Based on Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report, Tesla’s most expensive offerings such as the Tesla Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X, all saw steep declines in 2025. This suggests that mainstream EV buyers might have had a price issue with Tesla’s more expensive offerings, not an Elon Musk issue.
Ultimately, despite broader EV market softness, with total U.S. EV sales slipping about 2% year-to-date, Tesla still accounted for 58.9% of all EV deliveries in 2025, according to the report. This means that out of every ten EVs sold in the United States in 2025, more than half of them were Teslas.
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Tesla Model 3 and Model Y earn Euro NCAP Best in Class safety awards
“The company’s best-selling Model Y proved the gold standard for small SUVs,” Euro NCAP noted.
Tesla won dual categories in the Euro NCAP Best in Class awards, with the Model 3 being named the safest Large Family Car and the Model Y being recognized as the safest Small SUV.
The feat was highlighted by Tesla Europe & Middle East in a post on its official account on social media platform X.
Model 3 and Model Y lead their respective segments
As per a press release from the Euro NCAP, the organization’s Best in Class designation is based on a weighted assessment of four key areas: Adult Occupant, Child Occupant, Vulnerable Road User, and Safety Assist. Only vehicles that achieved a 5-star Euro NCAP rating and were evaluated with standard safety equipment are eligible for the award.
Euro NCAP noted that the updated Tesla Model 3 performed particularly well in Child Occupant protection, while its Safety Assist score reflected Tesla’s ongoing improvements to driver-assistance systems. The Model Y similarly stood out in Child Occupant protection and Safety Assist, reinforcing Tesla’s dual-category win.
“The company’s best-selling Model Y proved the gold standard for small SUVs,” Euro NCAP noted.
Euro NCAP leadership shares insights
Euro NCAP Secretary General Dr. Michiel van Ratingen said the organization’s Best in Class awards are designed to help consumers identify the safest vehicles over the past year.
Van Ratingen noted that 2025 was Euro NCAP’s busiest year to date, with more vehicles tested than ever before, amid a growing variety of electric cars and increasingly sophisticated safety systems. While the Mercedes-Benz CLA ultimately earned the title of Best Performer of 2025, he emphasized that Tesla finished only fractionally behind in the overall rankings.
“It was a close-run competition,” van Ratingen said. “Tesla was only fractionally behind, and new entrants like firefly and Leapmotor show how global competition continues to grow, which can only be a good thing for consumers who value safety as much as style, practicality, driving performance, and running costs from their next car.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving pricing strategy eliminates one recurring complaint
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y dominates U.S. EV market in 2025
