First up, I'm not overly confident this is in the "right" place - I'm sure a mod will be kind enough to move it to the more appropriate location if not.

I see a post on reddit previous to this forum's existence, wherin someone put up the idea of offshore floating platforms on which structures can be built. As I've seen nothing like that yet on this end, I thought I'd carry it over...

From the original post:

"Floating city as a proof of conceptOther (self.Asgardia)

submitted 1 month ago by Sirkristof

I know the idea of a floating city has been bounced around the internet for decades now but does anyone else think it would be a perfect test for an aspiring space nation to first build an ocean nation? It can pretty much be done with today's technology given enough finance and if it was enclosed or at least party enclosed it could be used to develop the systems and knowledge for supporting a large colony with limited resources. I'm pretty sure there are patches of ocean calm enough and outside any countries borders..?

I don't want to take anything away from the idea of being a space nation, that needs to be the end goal, 100%. I just think of the steps needed to get there that this should be one of them, the benefit being that it's achievable in our lifetimes :)"

There are definitely merits to this idea. If you have the platform floating, but have the "structures" subsurface, or at least the larger mass of, then you'll not even require to worry about "ocean calm enough" - with a sufficiently cunning design. It could be designed modular, and additional modules snapped on as required. Tidal generators, windfarms and solar PV can exist both in small scale on each module, and additionaly in larger scale on nearby floating platforms(linked, but not incredibly close proximity). It could also provide for tesitng facilities for a lot of things. Most notably, biostasis. A set of modules can be rigged up and can test a team of twelve's ability to survive in close proximity without killing each other, as much as the viability of the biostasis. I'm not overly hot on maritime law, but established outside of international borders, in international waters, it'd be subject to Asgardian law, for as long as Asgardians occupy. Piracy might be an issue, but there's ways and means to combat that. Communications are likely to be something of an issue, as will regular supplies - The supplies are easiest to counter by establishment of both surface and subsurface(artificial light) farming areas.

Oh, and there was various names put forwards for such an installation - I think they was all lacking. I'd suggest "Atlantis".

I think this is a great idea — it would probably be much cheaper than actually building infrastructure in space (though don't quote me on that), and more importantly, it would give us a place to experiment with the social effects of having lots of people living together in a largely self-contained habitat, all while being sufficiently close to home that rescue would be an option in the case of an emergency. We could try out the ideas being proposed in some of the other fora without having to worry nearly as much about what might happen if they don't work.

It would also be newsworthy, which would raise Asgardia's profile and attract people who might be interested in actually moving to an Asgardian habitat, whether in orbit or on the surface. However, I'm not sure if that would be %100 a good thing, especially in the beginning — support would be nice, but having hundreds of thousands of people competing for guaranteed-to-be-limited-in-the-beginning spots might be a mixed blessing. Infrastructure takes a lot of time.

Maybe someday the sea installation could even become part of the anchoring platform for a space elevator.

Space elevator is unfeasible on many points, on something floating all that weight in one spot will more than likely sink it - but it could potentially facilitate a launch platform. If going floating launch platform I'd suggest air to be more stable than sea and also gives rise(pun intended) to getting higher before using thrust.

But, yeah, I'd thought it's a good idea for the reasons you'd list and more. The chap who came up with the concept further in the reddit thread claimed to be well versed in such engineering so likely at the point to be building things for testing purpose, or enable rapid development towards. Primary materials was mentioned as such things as fibreglass.

The "sure to be limited" spots would be mostly solved by making it a "DIY" affair. If designed modular these things could clip together and somewhat tesselate - to get one and be able to clip it up you just have to build it(or fund it's building - if mostly fibreglass, that'd be quite cheap. Once molds are done/open sourced it's game on. Eventual crowdfunding once concept proven can provide for more habitats for the lesser fortunates) - and not just their habitational pod, they'd need to be thinking about some farming land(eventually we will have this in pods under, too, but from word go need to depend minimally on ships delivering). I'd suggest a few k would get the structure for three to four people(small houseboat) and potentially floating "land". Wave, wind and solar should all be harvestable, and ideally would be provisioned but if everyone adds at least solar onto their hab it'll mean a lot. I'd personally have this floating in the center, the "farming land" around that, and dotted between/around that the habpods and storage facilities and other infrastructures. Potentially solar "drones" can tether up and tug to deliver to assembly site. A series of electrical motors, positioned away from the habitation to reduce vibrations and audiable pollutions can maintain it's position. The major issues I see with such a project would be interwebs - satellite b/w isn't cheap, could be cheaper once we have birds up there - and piracy. We may be able to work out some agreement with several navies for coverage so we'd not need to arm it in any significant way, reducing the chances of them wanting to attack it or viewing it as some sort of threat. I'd certainly be netting the perimeter and having as much as possible subsurface.

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