M.V. Once in a Lifetime
Ship fitted out as a floating rocket launch pad
The Spaceport Company
US startup that launches rockets from ships at sea, giving rocket and missile testers a mobile launch pad when land ranges are booked. It reports ten successful launches at sea.
Its site lists Lockheed Martin and X-Bow Systems as customers and says it holds multiple US defense contracts. Its site places it at Port Bienville, Mississippi; Defense News (2024) gave Woodbridge, Virginia as its base. Legal name The Spaceport Authority, Inc. is from the site's copyright notice (thespaceportcompany.com/about-us/).
Products, by altitude
On the ground · 0 km · Earth’s surface
In service In service ![]()
Telemetry and Tracking Station
Portable station that tracks rockets from ships or remote sites
In development Tri-Sub
Semi-submersible platform used as a launch pad at sea
Milestones
- May 2024 The Defense Innovation Unit selected the company under its Novel Responsive Space Delivery effort to demonstrate sea-based launch from floating launch pads. No award value was reported.1
- Aug 2023 Payload reported that in May 2023 the company launched four sounding rockets from a barge in the Gulf of Mexico, which it described as the first commercial launch in US territorial waters. Company statement2
Sources
Updated Oct 22, 2026 · How we source facts · Suggest a correction