spacetoday.net: SpaceX flies Starhopper vehicle

SpaceX flies Starhopper vehicle

Posted: Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 6:13 PM ET (2213 GMT)
SpaceX's Starhopper vehicle performed its highest, and final, test flight Tuesday. The vehicle, an early prototype of SpaceX's next-generation Starship system, took off from a pad at the company's South Texas test site shortly after 6 pm EDT (2200 GMT), landing on another pad a short distance away nearly a minute later. The vehicle was planned to fly to an altitude of 150 meters, but the company did not immediately disclose the vehicle's peak altitude. The test will be the last flight for Starhopper, as the company moves on to "Starship Mark 1" prototypes under construction that could be ready for initial flights later this year.