Autonomous spaceport drone ship

Autonomous spaceport drone ship

Of Course I Still Love You carries the first rocket stage to successfully land on a drone ship (CRS-8, 8 April 2016)
Launch site	Just Read the Instructions & A Shortfall of Gravitas: Cape Canaveral / Kennedy Of Course I Still Love You: Vandenberg
Location	Just Read the Instructions & A Shortfall of Gravitas: Port Canaveral Of Course I Still Love You: Port of Long Beach
Short name	ASDS
Operator	SpaceX
Just Read the Instructions (I) landing history Status Retired (May 2015) Landings 2 (0 success, 2 failures) First landing 10 January 2015 (CRS-5) Last landing 14 April 2015 (CRS-6) Associated rockets Falcon 9 v1.1 Of Course I Still Love You landing history Status Active Landings 116 (108 successes, 7 failures, 1 partial failure) First landing 4 March 2016 (SES-9) Last landing 14 November 2024 (Starlink Group 9-11) Associated rockets Falcon 9 Full Thrust Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Just Read the Instructions (II) landing history Status Active Landings 97 (95 successes, 1 failure, 1 partial failure) First landing 17 January 2016 (Jason-3) Last landing 14 November 2024 (Starlink Group 6-68) Associated rockets Falcon 9 Full Thrust Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy A Shortfall of Gravitas landing history Status Active Landings 85 (84 successful, 1 failure) First landing 29 August 2021 (CRS-23) Last landing 11 November 2024 (Starlink Group 6-69) Associated rockets Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy (planned)

An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is a modified ocean-going barge equipped with propulsion systems to maintain precise position and a large landing platform. SpaceX developed these vessels to recover the first stage (also called the booster) of its launch vehicles. By recovering and reusing these boosters, SpaceX has significantly reduced the cost of space launch.

SpaceX operates three ASDS: Just Read the Instructions (II) (JRTI), A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG), and Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). JRTI and ASOG operate from Port Canaveral supporting launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station landing in the Atlantic Ocean, while OCISLY operates from the Port of Long Beach supporting launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base landing in the Pacific Ocean.

Depending on mission requirements, SpaceX can return the booster to the launch site for a ground landing, land the booster at sea on an ASDS, or discard it. While a ground landing is the least expensive option, it requires the most fuel and thus reduces payload capacity. Sea landings offer a balance of cost and performance, making them the most common choice, used on approximately three-quarters of missions.