Small SpaceX test rocket gets off the ground short during free-flight test

SpaceX managed to get its Starhopper test rocket off the ground for a short period of time through a brief firing of the single Raptor methane engine. It is the first time that the test rocket for the upcoming Starship rocket has lifted off the ground without a cable.

Elon Musk reports on Twitter that the free-flight test of the Starhopper was successful. He shared a short video of the ignited Raptor engine, which shows the rocket taking off from the ground. The rocket did not reach very high; at the launch site of the Texan Boca Chica, a height of 20 meters was reached according to plan. Musk indicates that such a launch will take place again in a week or two, but that a height of 200 meters must be achieved.

This first successful ‘hop’ without cable should have taken place on Wednesday. Starhopper then ignited its Raptor rocket engine for three seconds, after which the engine was shut down and the rocket started fire. That was somewhat like a July 16 static fire test with the Starhopper, in which the rocket was enveloped in a fireball after unburned methane ignited.

SpaceX first ignited the Starhopper’s single methane rocket engine in April, though the rocket was still attached by a cable at the time. Ultimately, the test rocket should get three Raptor engines so that it gets much further off the ground. The Starhopper test rocket is not only used to test the Raptor engines, but ultimately also to test vertical landings, for example. Starhopper therefore has landing legs that Starship must also get.

Starship will be SpaceX’s new super rocket. This rocket must be completely reusable and will have at least 41 methane engines in total, but there could also be more. Starship is strictly speaking the name for the upper rocket stage; Super Heavy is the name of the first stage that will certainly have 35 Raptor engines. It should be the most powerful rocket ever and, among other things, realize Musk’s vision of a base on Mars.