The hopper hops: Starship development hits milestone with brief flight
SpaceX’s first untethered launch of its Starhopper prototype at Boca Chica Beach late Thursday was an important milestone for the company and development of the 100-passenger Starship/Super Heavy vehicle SpaceX plans to take to the Moon and Mars.
The hopper’s single Raptor rocket engine ignited at 10:44 p.m. at the launch/test site 24 miles east of Brownsville, enveloping the stainless-steel-clad vehicle in billowing fire and exhaust before pushing it upward and to one side before the hopper touched down again. The test ignited a brush fire that continued to burn Friday.
In drone footage posted by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Twitter early Friday morning, the hopper can be clearly seen ascending, atop a column of blue flame, before disappearing completely behind orange-tinted clouds of exhaust. In footage from a camera mounted to the bottom of the hopper, the engine can be seen igniting and the vehicle rising and moving over the launch pad, with quick minor adjustments of the engine’s attitude to maintain control, before setting down.
In a nod to the many commentators noting the hopper’s resemblance to a water tower, Musk tweeted a few minutes after the inaugural flight: “Starhopper flight successful. Water towers ‘can’ fly haha!!”
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