As part of the plan to reuse the First stages of the SpaceX Falcon 9, SpaceX originally built three Barges to land the stages on, but one was an early ASDS that was replaced by a more advanced version giving 2 operation one East coast and one West cost.

After the successful Maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy(FH) rocket another new ASDS 'MARMAC 302' called 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' (ASOG) for the East Coast, to support high flight rates for F9 and dual ocean landings for FH side boosters is now under construction, as of yet(12 Feb 2018) there is no confirmation weather this new ASDS will be designed for BFS testing as well. As of May 2021 we are still waiting but there is some work being done on it now in port of South Louisiana.

The first Barge "autonomous spaceport drone ship" (ASDS) named "Just Read the Instructions" that operated from Jacksonville Florida, Built from a Marmac series 300 ocean barge. In its six months of active operations it was used for the first two failed test landings at sea. It is now based at Port Canaveral.

It was then replaced with an updated version based on a much newer Marmac barge, model 304.

This Second ASDS is named "Of Course I Still Love You" (OCISLY) originally based at Jacksonville. now at  Port of Long Beach in support of Vandenberg Air Force Base launches 

The third updated ASDS was also called "Just Read the Instructions", SpaceX moved it via the Panama canal to be based in California for return of West Coast Falcon 9 first stages launched from Vandenberg AFB. Now back at Port Canaveral.

"A Shortfall of Gravitas"  (ASOG) ASDA was assigned to Port Canaveral.

Three vessels are required for a barge landing, including a barge/landing platform approximately 300 feet long and 150 feet wide, a support/research vessel approximately 165 4 feet long, and 120-foot commercial tug boat. The tug boat and support/research vessel would be staged outside the landing location.

 This is a 360 Degree so you can view it using your mouse for the landing from all directions View it many times Enjoy

These ASDS are amazing pieces of advanced technology outfitted with four diesel-powered azimuth thruster engines which can pivot horizontally, removing the need for a ship rudder and offering better manoeuvrability with a complete 360 degree range of motion for the ship controls, Also installed are a wide array of sensors allowing use of GPS information for “attitude and placement”, The drone ship also communicates with the incoming rocket as well as to teams nearby in a boat to control and coordinate the complicated precise landings.

After a landing on the drone Ship from Florida the Falcon 9 1st stages are transported to Port Canaveral.

You can watch Port Canaveral live feed on their site and see the falcon 9 operations live. 

How SpaceX Recovers Falcon 9 after Drone Ship Landings - Port Canaveral Recovery Operations

The third ASDS is called "A Shortfall of Gravitas" (ASOG)

ASOG is fully automated and requires no tugboat for transits.

Archive

On the 8th April 2016 SpaceX had its first successful 1st stage landing on a barge (1st landing success was on Land)

 "That's one small step for a rocket, one giant leap to Mars" 'The One'

Once the F9 1st stage is landed on the ASDS the standing rocket is welded to the deck of the ship and reinforced until it arrives back in port.

In Jan 2016 SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 first stage but unfortunately a landing leg failed due to ice forming at take off in fog causing an explosion (RUD).

Autonomous spaceport drone ship

The self-piloting ship with Thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs hold position within 3m even in a storm. Combined with technology to keep the platform stable, that should provide a good landing platform for the rockets, whilst also being a long, long way away from other people in case things don't go quite to plan.

 The width is 300ft by 100ft  Barge but is 300 x 170 foot with the extra wings opened to test the recovery of the Falcon 9 1st stage.GPS stabilized barge built at Conrad Shipyards in Morgan City, Louisiana.

 Under Construction

The First use of SpaceX landing Barge is to be for the CRS5 ISS cargo delivery.

Projected date is 16th Dec14 (now targeted for Friday 19th Dec 2014, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida)

 CRS5 Barge landing area Cyan icon in the centre of the map. (Credit darga89)

The boat icon is the target location. The wave icons are the nearest buoys with links to track weather and wave conditions.

The Falcon 9 will use 4 Grid Wings to steer the rocket on to the Ship

 Falcon 9 Rocket showing 3 of the 4 Grid Wings in the open position (x-wing configuration)

The Grid fins are stowed on ascent and then deploy on re-entry for "x-wing" style control. Each fin moves independently for pitch/yaw/roll.

You can see the Fins in action in this F9R Test flight.

The new "Of Course I Still Love You" was ready for the failed CRS-7 mission to the ISS.

It would have been 1st stage landing on Sunday 28 June 2015 (Elon Musk 44th birthday) had not the CRS7 mission not exploded  around 3 mins after launch :(

The SES-9 satellite from KSC on 4th March (was to be 25 Feb) 2016, SpaceX use the Drone Ship(barge) as landing back on Landing Zone 1 would require too much fuel as SES-9 is geostationary orbit (Cleake orbit 35,786 km (22,236m) above Earth, The landing attempt almost succeeded.

The 1st successful Drone Ship landing after a launch from KSC was on 8th April 2016 on  OCISLY (See landing video above)

Vandenberg

Vandenberg saw its first landing on 14 Jan 2017 with the Return to flight launch (after the Sept 2016 fueling accident) that successfully launched 10 Indium satellites.

The FAA granted permission to SpaceX on the 30 Nov 2016 to conduct boostbacks and landings of the Falcon 9 first stage booster up to six times per year, either on a Drone Ship based at  the Port of Long Beach, California for heavier payloads when the Falcon 9 cannot return to VAFB at the new SLC-4W landing pad.

San Pedro Harbor

SpaceX have Rocket recovery from their Drone Ship, The Falcon 9 1st stage storage is at berths 51 to 53 in San Pedro port of Los Angeles CA.

 F9 1st stage returning on the Drone ship OCISLY after launching Iridium NEXT 2 from Vandenberg.

 F9 unloading at San Pedro 29th June 2017

SEE ALSO fairing recovery ship 'Mr Steven' based at the Port of Los Angeles

SpaceX 'Go Searcher' Crew Dragon support ship

'GO Cosmos' Fairing /Dragon retrieval Ship  based at Port Canaveral.

The recovery ships "Bob" and "Doug" are named after the first crew SpaceX launched for NASA.

As well as the Barges SpaceX also have two  recovery vessels for recovery of Crew Dragon spacecraft and also the Cargo Dragon. The ships are named "MV Megan" and "MV Shannon."

There is also a plan to build new Landing vessels for Starship recovery around 2026.

SpaceX Dragon recovery vessel Megan