SpaceX's Starhopper successfully completes its 150m hover test (updated)
Ever seen a water tower fly?
Just like yesterday, SpaceX is lined up to attempt its most ambitious launch yet of the water tower-like Starhopper test vehicle. This is all in preparation for its upcoming Starship, but first the Raptor engines and frame need some shorter non-orbital attempts. If all goes well, it will fly to around 500 feet high at about 6 PM ET, but as we saw with yesterday's test, anything can happen, like a wiring issue -- even with just eight tenths of a second left on the countdown.
Update: The test went off as planned this time, apparently without a hitch. You can watch the flight below, but we're already looking forward to bigger and better hops.
SpaceX's Starhopper conducts 150 meter test hop under the power of the SN6 Raptor!
THAT WAS AMAZING! pic.twitter.com/7exBqW4HeV— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 27, 2019
About to do next Starhopper flight test https://t.co/eeXPQPk7t6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2019