Spacex Grasshopper reusable rocket flies to 744 meters and back

On Monday, October 7th, Grasshopper completed its highest leap to date, rising to 744 meter altitude. This is two and half times the previous height of about 300 meters. The view above is taken from a single camera hexacopter, getting closer to the stage than in any previous flight.

Grasshopper is a 10-story Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle designed to test the technologies needed to return a rocket back to Earth intact. While most rockets are designed to burn up on atmosphere reentry, SpaceX rockets are being designed not only to withstand reentry, but also to return to the launch pad for a vertical landing. The Grasshopper VTVL vehicle represents a critical step towards this goal.

Grasshopper consists of a Falcon 9 rocket first stage tank, Merlin 1D engine, four steel and aluminum landing legs with hydraulic dampers, and a steel support structure.

Reusable rockets can reduce the cost of launching into orbit by 100 times.

On August 13th, the Falcon 9 test rig (code name Grasshopper) completed a divert test, flying to a 250m altitude with a 100m lateral maneuver before returning to the center of the pad. The test demonstrated the vehicle’s ability to perform more aggressive steering maneuvers than have been attempted in previous flights.

An animation of a launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 with Dragon showing powered vertical return of both stages and the Dragon.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks