Starship sailing into Cape Canaveral: Musk teases new SpaceX barge 'You'll Thank Me Later'

• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed a ship will transport Starships from Texas to Cape Canaveral.
• The seafaring vessel for the Starship might be named 'You'll Thank Me Later'.
• SpaceX plans to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A as soon as next year.

Coming soon: Starships sailing into Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X on Sept. 16 that Cape Canaveral could soon see a new seafaring vessel not just for any space hardware but for SpaceX’s massive Starship.

“Watership to transport spaceship from Starbase to Cape Canaveral," Musk wrote in a comment on X (formerly Twitter).

The confirmation statement came after speculation arose from a Sept. 8 Musk post, in which Musk said, "You’ll Thank Me Later." One X user speculated the comment was referring to SpaceX, to which Musk replied, "correct".

Another X user made a post early Sept. 16 asking if SpaceX is getting a new drone ship. Musk replied hours later with the confirmation about the transport ship.

Based on Musk’s comment, "You'll Thank Me Later" might be the name of the ship that will transport the Starships to Cape Canaveral from Starbase, Texas, although that hasn't been confirmed by SpaceX.

SpaceX is known for naming its vessels — and rockets — after science fiction. For example, the Florida drone ships — A Shortfall of Gravitas and Just Read the Instructions — are named for spaceships in science fiction novels by Iain M. Banks.

SpaceX did not respond to requests for additional information, but just those few Musk comments caused a stir in the space community.

Is SpaceX Starship coming to Florida?

SpaceX currently launches its massive Starship on test flights from Starbase, Texas, which is located near Brownsville. The plan is to launch Starship from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A as soon as next year. This will be followed by Starship launches from Launch Complex 37 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Starship launch system is part of Musk’s goal of sending humans to Mars and is also contracted to serve as the human lander for NASA’s Artemis III moon landing.

Starship is designed to be fully reusable, with not only the booster, but the ship returning to the launch towers. This will drastically reduce not only launch, but recovery costs and labor.

SpaceX is seeking to launch and land upwards of 44 Starships and Super Heavy boosters per year from NASA’s Kenndy Space Center Pad 39A, where the launch tower is nearing completion.

For this reason, Starship has been the subject of worry for many in Florida. The massive launch system means the Space Coast will see more sonic booms as well as airspace and road closures.

Space Force and FAA environmental impact statements are nearing completion and final drafts are expected in the coming months. This will determine if SpaceX needs to make any changes to current Starship plans.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @brookeofstars.