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
Location
Short nameASDS
OperatorSpaceX
Just Read the Instructions (I) landing history
StatusRetired (May 2015)
Landings2 (0 success, 2 failures)
First landing10 January 2015
(CRS-5)
Last landing14 April 2015
(CRS-6)
Associated
rockets
Of Course I Still Love You landing history
StatusActive
Landings118 (110 successes, 7 failures, 1 partial failure)
First landing4 March 2016
(SES-9)
Last landing24 November 2024
(Starlink Group 9-13)
Associated
rockets
Just Read the Instructions (II) landing history
StatusActive
Landings99 (97 successes, 1 failure, 1 partial failure)
First landing17 January 2016
(Jason-3)
Last landing25 November 2024
(Starlink Group 12-1)
Associated
rockets
A Shortfall of Gravitas landing history
StatusActive
Landings88 (87 successful, 1 failure)
First landing29 August 2021
(CRS-23)
Last landing27 November 2024
(Starlink Group 6-76)
Associated
rockets

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.


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