The Nereus Mobile Launch System
Following the release of Hayden Vaughn's stunning footage in late 2016, there is little reason for the U.S. Government to continue issuing denials about the existence of the Nereus mobile launch system. At its core, a Nereus platform is nothing more than a semi-submersible drilling rig, originally constructed to dig deep into the Earth's crust and harvest natural resources. The only difference is that a Nereus rig performs no drilling operations. Rather, the Nereus program was established in the late 1980s to give the United States the ability to launch new spy satellites from clandestine locations, thus evading the notice of enemy eyes already in orbit.
The idea is that a mobile, semi-submersible platform can travel just about anywhere in the world and anchor itself firmly to the ocean floor, provided the depth isn't too extreme. The anchoring process, which involves ocean-floor placement of colossal devices known as suction piles, requires between one and three days. The tensioning of these anchor points can then be adjusted remotely during a launch, along with the ballast in the platform's massive pontoons, to maintain a rock solid and steady surface for escaping spacecraft to push off from.
The exact number of Nereus platforms is currently unknown outside the Pentagon, but rumor has it that each platform is codenamed after one of the Nereid sea nymphs. Since Greek mythology holds that the Nereids number as many as fifty, it's quite possible that there are dozens of Nereus rigs spread across the world, quietly masquerading as deep-sea drilling platforms until their country has need of them.
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