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Local news for Brevard County and the Space Coast

SpaceX Fleet & Booster Watch

The droneships and recovery ships that bring boosters home, and where the next boosters land.

4 ships · Booster Watch

Booster Watch

Next SpaceX launches from the Cape
  • No earlier than December 2026Falcon Heavy · Griffin Mission One🚢 Droneship landing (ship not named yet); 2 side boosters back to the Cape
  • Target: Q4 2026Falcon 9 · BlueBird 14-16 (Block 2 #9-11)🚢 Droneship landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG)
  • Target: second half of 2026Falcon 9 · Globalstar 2-R Mission 2 (x 9)🚢 Droneship landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG)

Typical timing, not a schedule: for a droneship landing, the ship usually leaves Port Canaveral a few days before launch and sails back into the port with the booster standing on deck a few days after. Dates that aren’t firm yet are marked “No earlier than” or “Target”.

⚓ Recent booster returns

  • Oct 20B1085 flight 19Bandwagon 5 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)ASOGLanded
  • Sep 13B1080 flight 29O3b mPower 11-13ASOGLanded
  • Aug 25B1067 flight 37Starlink Group 10-49ASOGLanded
  • Aug 21B1078 flight 30Starlink Group 10-39ASOGLanded

Boosters landed on a droneship come back into Port Canaveral standing up on deck, usually a few days after launch.

Landing plans and results from The Space Devs Launch Library 2, updated every few hours (last 1:30 AM ET Oct 25). Plans change; SpaceX announces the final landing plan close to launch.

A Falcon 9 booster standing on a SpaceX droneship at Port Canaveral
A Falcon 9 booster back at Port Canaveral on a droneship, January 2022 · Photo: Charles Boyer, CC BY 2.0
Droneship · SpaceXActive

A Shortfall of Gravitas ASOG

The booster catcher. Since April 2026 it is SpaceX’s only Falcon droneship on the East Coast, working out of Port Canaveral and catching Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters out in the Atlantic.

  • Successful landings168per Launch Library 2
  • HullMarmac 302
  • Joined the fleetJuly 2021
  • First catchCRS-23 (2021), its very first try

Where is it now? VesselFinder · MarineTraffic

Sources: Wikipedia: Autonomous spaceport drone ship; Florida Today, Apr. 23, 2026

Beachgoers watch a Falcon 9 booster on a droneship being brought into Port Canaveral
Crowds watch the Crew-5 booster ride JRTI into Port Canaveral, Oct. 2022 · Photo: Bill Ingalls, Public domain (NASA)
Droneship · SpaceXNow hauling Starship gear

Just Read the Instructions JRTI

Retired from Falcon 9 catches in April 2026 after 156 successful landings. Next job: carrying Starship hardware from Starbase, Texas, to the Cape alongside the barge “You’ll Thank Me Later.”

  • HullMarmac 303
  • East Coast sinceJune 2020
  • Last booster homeApr. 23, 2026

Where is it now? VesselFinder · MarineTraffic

Sources: Florida Today, Apr. 23, 2026; Wikipedia: Autonomous spaceport drone ship

SpaceX support ship Doug at sea
Doug at sea after the Crew-5 launch, Oct. 2022 · Photo: Bill Ingalls, Public domain (NASA)
Recovery support · SpaceXPort Canaveral

Bob & Doug Support ships

Two former offshore supply ships SpaceX bought in 2021 and named for Demo-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. They support droneship and booster recovery trips and pull fairing halves out of the ocean.

  • Bought2021
  • Named forDemo-2 crew
  • Fast boatsMaverick & Goose

Where is it now? Bob: VesselFinder · MarineTraffic   Doug: VesselFinder · MarineTraffic

Sources: Wikipedia: SpaceX fairing recovery program

Blue Origin landing barge Jacklyn docked at Port Canaveral
Jacklyn at Port Canaveral between missions, Feb. 2025 · Photo: JER3L1337, CC0
Landing barge · Blue OriginNew Glenn

Jacklyn LPV1

Blue Origin’s New Glenn landing barge, Landing Platform Vessel 1, named for Jeff Bezos’s mother. It caught its first New Glenn booster on Nov. 13, 2025. That same booster flew again on NG-3 and landed a second time.

  • In serviceJanuary 2025
  • BuiltRomania & France, 2024
  • First catchNG-2, Nov. 13, 2025

Where is it now? VesselFinder · MarineTraffic

Sources: Wikipedia: Landing Platform Vessel 1

← Back to Port Today: tides, buoy and marine forecast

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