'Autonomous SpaceX droneship': Elon Musk unveils new drone ship for rocket landings at sea

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has added a new number member to SpaceX’s fleet of ‘autonomous spaceport drone ships’ or ASDS that are used to catch falling rockets. Sharing the official video on Twitter on July 10, Musk introduced 'A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG)'.

"Autonomous SpaceX droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas," the CEO wrote while sharing the clip. Unlike other drone ships, the newest floating rocket launching pad is fully automated and does not require tug boats to hover it into SpaceX's typical launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The new drone ship will be placed at Port Canaveral, Florida to support the launching of Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 rocket that sends NASA astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 is also used to send SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites to orbit.

Reportedly, ASOG will be used in the recovery of Falcon heavy side booster B1065. 

Currently, the drone ship is undergoing sea trials. Like the other two drone ships, ASOG is named in honour of late science fiction author Iain M Banks. The other two ASDS are named Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) and Of Course, I Still Love You (OCISLY).

SpaceX building second rocket factory in Central Texas

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently announced that the company is building a second rocket factory in Central Texas near its existing facility that will focus on the production of rocket engines named Raptor. "We are breaking ground soon on a second Raptor factory at SpaceX Texas test site," he said adding, "It will be the highest output & most advanced rocket engine factory in the world."

"This will focus on volume production of Raptor 2, while California factory will make Raptor Vacuum & new, experimental designs," the billionaire added. Musk also informed that "roughly 800 to 1000" Raptors will be produced per year.