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SpaceX drone ship to ride transport vessel through the Panama Canal

Drone ship OCISLY was recently loaded onto the deck of transport ship Mighty Servant 1 (MS1) in the Bahamas. (SpaceXFleet - Mr & Mrs Vacation)

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4 years ago

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After a quick jaunt from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas, SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) has been loaded onto the deck of a much larger semi-submersible transport vessel.

Known as Mighty Servant 1 (MS1), it appears that OCISLY will be carried from the Bahamas through the Panama Canal – and possibly all the way to Port of Long Beach, California – on the back of the transport ship. That’s unlike Just Read The Instructions’ (JRTI) 2019 transit from California to Florida, which saw SpaceX remove the drone ship’s deck ‘wings’ for a tow through the Panama Canal’s older, narrower locks.

Perhaps possible because of the use of a transport ship like MS1, it appears that drone ship OCISLY will instead be allowed to transit the Panama Canal’s 55-meter-wide (180 ft) New Panama locks. With a one-time permit, SpaceX can bypass its otherwise strict 51.25m (168 ft) beam (width) limit and squeeze drone ship OCISLY through the canal with just 1-1.5m (3-5 ft) to spare on either side. As a result, SpaceX won’t have to go through the relatively laborious process of cutting off and reinstalling OCISLY’s wings and recertifying the drone ship’s seaworthiness, which can easily take a month or more.

More generally, and especially so for a payload as light as OCISLY, Mighty Servant 1 should also be able to travel significant faster than the drone ship would otherwise be able to under tow. Typically, tugboats tend to tow SpaceX’s drone ships no faster than 9 mph (13 kph). MS1 could easily average 14-15 mph with OCISLY on its deck, conceivably speeding up the 5000 mile (8000 km) journey from a bit less than four weeks to two weeks.

SpaceX drone ship heads to the Bahamas for its ride to California

While convenient regardless, a substantially faster canal transit and coast-to-coast journey and the freedom to leave OCISLY almost entirely unchanged will help SpaceX begin dedicated polar Starlink launches from the West Coast as early as July 2021. SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell first put forth a goal of beginning those launches in “summer” 2021 – technically no earlier than (NET) July 2021. Spaceflight Now later confirmed that dedicated polar Starlink launches were indeed scheduled to begin as early as July.

As of June 2021, SpaceX has already delivered a well-worn Falcon 9 booster from Florida to California and the last major missing piece – a drone ship to support West Coast recovery operations – may now be just a few weeks away from Port of Long Beach. In other words, while seemingly implausible just a few weeks ago, SpaceX now has a very decent chance of launching its first dedicated batch of polar Starlink satellites within the next ~7 weeks. Stay tuned for updates on drone ship OCISLY’s Panama Canal transit aboard Mighty Servant 1.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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GM CEO Mary Barra says she told Biden to give Tesla and Musk EV credit

“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla…You know me, Andrew. I don’t want to take credit for things.”

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7 hours ago

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December 3, 2025

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General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a new interview on Wednesday that she told President Joe Biden to credit Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, for the widespread electric vehicle transition.

She said she told Biden this after the former President credited her and GM for leading EV efforts in the United States.

During an interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Barra said she told Biden that crediting her was essentially a mistake, and that Musk and Tesla should have been explicitly mentioned (via Business Insider):

“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla…You know me, Andrew. I don’t want to take credit for things.”

Back in 2021, President Biden visited GM’s “Factory Zero” plant in Detroit, which was the centerpiece of the company’s massive transition to EVs. The former President went on to discuss the EV industry, and claimed that GM and Barra were the true leaders who caused the change:

“In the auto industry, Detroit is leading the world in electric vehicles. You know how critical it is? Mary, I remember talking to you way back in January about the need for America to lead in electric vehicles. I can remember your dramatic announcement that by 2035, GM would be 100% electric. You changed the whole story, Mary. You did, Mary. You electrified the entire automotive industry. I’m serious. You led, and it matters.”

People were baffled by the President’s decision to highlight GM and Barra, and not Tesla and Musk, who truly started the transition to EVs. GM, Ford, and many other companies only followed in the footsteps of Tesla after it started to take market share from them.

Elon Musk and Tesla try to save legacy automakers from Déjà vu

Musk would eventually go on to talk about Biden’s words later on:

“They have so much power over the White House that they can exclude Tesla from an EV Summit. And, in case the first thing, in case that wasn’t enough, then you have President Biden with Mary Barra at a subsequent event, congratulating Mary for having led the EV revolution.”

In Q4 2021, which was shortly after Biden’s comments, Tesla delivered 300,000 EVs. GM delivered just 26.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving shows confident navigation in heavy snow

So far, from what we’ve seen, snow has not been a huge issue for the most recent Full Self-Driving release. It seems to be acting confidently and handling even snow-covered roads with relative ease.

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9 hours ago

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December 3, 2025

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Credit: Grok

Tesla Full Self-Driving is getting its first taste of Winter weather for late 2025, as snow is starting to fall all across the United States.

The suite has been vastly improved after Tesla released v14 to many owners with capable hardware, and driving performance, along with overall behavior, has really been something to admire. This is by far the best version of FSD Tesla has ever released, and although there are a handful of regressions with each subsequent release, they are usually cleared up within a week or two.

Tesla is releasing a modified version of FSD v14 for Hardware 3 owners: here’s when

However, adverse weather conditions are something that Tesla will have to confront, as heavy rain, snow, and other interesting situations are bound to occur. In order for the vehicles to be fully autonomous, they will have to go through these scenarios safely and accurately.

One big issue I’ve had, especially in heavy rain, is that the camera vision might be obstructed, which will display messages that certain features’ performance might be degraded.

So far, from what we’ve seen, snow has not been a huge issue for the most recent Full Self-Driving release. It seems to be acting confidently and handling even snow-covered roads with relative ease:

Moving into the winter months, it will be very interesting to see how FSD handles even more concerning conditions, especially with black ice, freezing rain and snow mix, and other things that happen during colder conditions.

We are excited to test it ourselves, but I am waiting for heavy snowfall to make it to Pennsylvania so I can truly push it to the limit.

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Tesla hosts Rome Mayor for first Italian FSD Supervised road demo

The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets.

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14 hours ago

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December 3, 2025

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Credit: @andst7/X

Tesla definitely seems to be actively engaging European officials on FSD’s capabilities, with the company hosting Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Mobility Assessor Eugenio Patanè for a hands-on road demonstration. 

The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets. This comes amid Tesla’s push for FSD’s EU regulatory approvals in the coming year.

Rome officials experience FSD Supervised

Tesla conducted the demo using a Model 3 equipped with Full Self-Driving (Supervised), tackling typical Roman traffic including complex intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and mixed users like cars, bikes and scooters.

The system showcased AI-based assisted driving, prioritizing safety while maintaining flow. FSD also handled overtakes and lane decisions, though with constant driver supervision.

Investor Andrea Stroppa detailed the event on X, noting the system’s potential to reduce severe collision risks by up to seven times compared to traditional driving, based on Tesla’s data from billions of global fleet miles. The session highlighted FSD’s role as an assistance tool in its Supervised form, not a replacement, with the driver fully responsible at all times.

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Path to European rollout

Tesla has logged over 1 million kilometers of testing across 17 European countries, including Italy, to refine FSD for local conditions. The fact that Rome officials personally tested FSD Supervised bodes well for the program’s approval, as it suggests that key individuals are closely watching Tesla’s efforts and innovations.

Assessor Patanè also highlighted the administration’s interest in technologies that boost road safety and urban travel quality, viewing them as aids for both private and public transport while respecting rules.

Replies on X urged involving Italy’s Transport Ministry to speed approvals, with one user noting, “Great idea to involve the mayor! It would be necessary to involve components of the Ministry of Transport and the government as soon as possible: it’s they who can accelerate the approval of FSD in Italy.”

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