Space Exploration Technologies, popularly known as SpaceX, had another successful test launch of its reusable rocket prototype tagged as the Grasshopper on October 7 at its development site in McGregor, Texas.
The Grasshopper reusable rocket, another pet project of business magnate Elon Musk, set a new record by reaching 2,441 feet from the ground before slowly setting itself back to its launchpad.
The event was captured by a hexacopter drone positioned high above the location of the facility. SpaceX uploaded the video of the said test launch to YouTube over the weekend.
The goal of the SpaceX program is to perfect the system that can send the vertical-takeoff and vertical-landing rocket to the air and land it safely back to the surface as it foresees its role of delivering payloads to the earth's orbit.
"If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space," explained Musk through a statement on the official site of SpaceX.
"The largest rocket-powered VTVL ever flown, Grasshopper consists of a Falcon 9 first stage, a single Merlin 1D engine, four steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers, and a steel support structure," described the SpaceX post. The Falcon 9 has a tag price of $54 million while each flight consumes fuel amounting to $200,000.
In August, the Grasshopper passed with flying colors on a divert test that sent it hovering to 800 feet and performing side to side controlled movements at approximately 330 feet..
So far the highest altitude the Grasshopper 1.0 rocket has reached was 1,066 feet during a test launch in July.
"This was the last scheduled test for the Grasshopper rig; next up will be low altitude tests of the Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) development vehicle in Texas followed by high altitude testing in New Mexico," said SpaceX on its Facebook Page. According to reports, SpaceX is building a bigger version of the Grasshopper rocket that will get nine engines similar to the Falcon 9.
Check out the video below.
