Jacklyn is a bespoke, purpose-built barge constructed from the ground up for Blue Origin. It is towed to landing sites by the support ship Harvey Stone. The barge can autonomously hold its position at sea within 10 feet and carries multiple robots for post-landing operations. After landing, an ROV connects to the New Glenn booster to provide life support functions and begin safing procedures. Six remotely controlled transport stands are then driven to each of the booster’s landing legs to secure it to the deck for the journey back to Port Canaveral.

Having been constructed outside the USA, Jacklyn is a non-Jones Act compliant vessel. The Act mandates that goods transported between U.S. ports must be carried on ships that are built, owned, and operated by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

An unknown aerospace company queried the possibility of using non-compliant recovery vessels back in 2023. U.S. Customs and Border Protection determined that since the recovery of rocket booster components would occur outside of U.S. territorial seas and no transportation of merchandise between coastwise points would occur, the Act would not be violated. The CBP also cited a precedent set in 2008 where a non-compliant vessel was allowed to recover and return an Orion Crew Module as the landing occurred more than 200 miles offshore, outside of U.S. territorial waters.