Below are 3 links about offshore platforms being used for space exploration projects. The bottom 2 have been discussed before but the top one is news to me. I’ve known about the theory of space elevators for decades but I always imagined long thick metal wires stretching from high remote mountains, not microfibers from offshore platforms.
Anybody remembers Sea Launch. 
Yes, I do:
Sea Launch lofts rockets from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Sea Launch
Sea Launch Commander vessel and Odyssey launch platform.
Image – Sea Launch
Originally the Drilling Rig “Ocean Odyssey” belonging to ODECO:
Built in Japan in 1982, the Ocean Odyssey was designed to endure 33.45 meters North Atlantic waves.
She suffered a major shallow gas blow-out in the North Sea in 1988, which ended her career as an oil & gas drilling rig.
Source: The Ocean Odyssey GasPocket — ALQUER BCRSS-3D™
She was refurbished at Rosenberg Shipyard in Stavanger, Norway, completed in 1997. She then moved to St. Petersburg to install rocket launching equipment.
She finally arrived in LA in 1999 for her new role with the Sea Launch consortium. The first commercial launch occurred on 9 October 1999, with the orbiting of the DirecTV 1-R satellite
Sea Launch was an interesting partnership between Ukraine, Russia, Norway and USA .
The Sea Launch platform and command ship is now reportedly located in Vladivostok, Russia, where she arrived in 2018.
PS: I friend of mine was Ch. Mate on the Odyssey during the first few launched. An interesting experience he said.
Didn’t they have a launch “go boom” on the platform? I used to pull in to the fuel pier just down from them in Long Beach and seeing them.
yes, In course of my work I was fortunate to visit the Launch Platform when it was based in Long Beach CA
My second time explaining this so it’ll be more brief, (it may not work?)
geo syncronous orbit is about 30K miles from the center of our planet. To anchor a elevator requires about that much more! Despite how ‘‘weak’’ , ‘puny’ our planets gravity is, we still can not build a revolving space station like a 1950’s dream to get near 1G gravity as the forces are just too big. Until we figure out how a spider web works (with 90% water)!! we’ll have to keep working on it.
Yes they did:
Uff da… yeah, after seeing that, I’m thinking maybe the remotely run platforms would be more preferable for me.