Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: NOAA

Hundreds of offshore oil and gas platforms in federally controlled waters are reaching the end of their operational lifecycle.

Enter Project Able Baker to enhance launch cadence and operational flexibility by exploring innovative maritime recovery options.

First of all, traditional decommissioning and full-removal processes are capital-intensive, costing upwards of $1.6 billion per platform, and often cause significant disruption to established marine ecosystems.

Landing pads

Project Able Baker seeks to address these challenges by developing a Sea-Based Recovery Station (SBRS)framework—a modular, resilient, and environmentally conscious solution that repurposes existing offshore infrastructure into landing pads for heavy-lift launch vehicles.

The Department of Defense, through the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, is looking at proposals for Sea-Based Recovery Stations for reusable launch vehicles, such as Falcon 9, Vulcan, and New Glenn class-rockets.