We’ve been covering the construction on SpaceX’s news addition to the Eastern fleet, A Shortfall of Gravitas. ASOG will soon be taking the place of the droneship Of Course I Still Love You which is moving to the west coast.
OCISLY moving the west coast will allow SpaceX to recover boosters out at sea, rather than relying on the less efficient return to launch site landings or discarding boosters. OCISLY left Port Canaveral on June 9th and made its preparations for passing through the Panama Canal at Freeport Anchorage. Gavin Cornwell has been tracking its journey. Due to the odd size and width of OCISLY, it was loaded onto Mighty Servant 1 for the passage through the Panama Canal. This unique ship is able to submerge itself, for OCISLY to get into position, then raise back up.
OCISLY, onboard Mighty Servant 1, has been waiting in line to cross the many locks of the Panama Canal for a few days, and today is the day. The Panama Canal and others have been sharing stunning images of the Droneships journey.
Due to its dimensions, the autonomous spaceport drone ship OCISLY transited through the Neopanamax locks aboard a semi-submersible transport vessel. pic.twitter.com/zl8nloObEO
— The Panama Canal (@thepanamacanal) June 25, 2021
As OCISLY continues its journey to the Pacific Ocean, you can keep an eye on its location via the ship tracking of Mighty Servant 1.
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