From: SpaceX's Grasshopper rocket jumps past 2,500 feet
Elon Musk's Grasshooper vehicle has inched a little hop closer to becoming a viable VTVL (vertical takeoff, vertical landing) rocket, last week completing its highest flight to date, reaching 744 meters in altitude (a snip over 2,500 feet) before performing its rocket-powered descent and touchdown.
SpaceX wants to cut the cost of launches by creating reusable boosters that return to the launchpad. That's because most of the cost of a liftoff is isn't in the fuel (around $200,000 for each flight) but embedded in the use-once-and-discard launchers. With a fully-developed Grasshopper, the first stage would become reusable.
The video below was shot from a single camera hexacopter.
Elon Musk's Grasshooper vehicle has inched a little hop closer to becoming a viable VTVL (vertical takeoff, vertical landing) rocket, last week completing its highest flight to date, reaching 744 meters in altitude (a snip over 2,500 feet) before performing its rocket-powered descent and touchdown.
SpaceX wants to cut the cost of launches by creating reusable boosters that return to the launchpad. That's because most of the cost of a liftoff is isn't in the fuel (around $200,000 for each flight) but embedded in the use-once-and-discard launchers. With a fully-developed Grasshopper, the first stage would become reusable.
The video below was shot from a single camera hexacopter.
