Confirmed today by a tweet directly from Elon Musk, the winged water tank that looks like a 1950s science fiction rocket with a nose job fired its engine and pushed off the ground:
“Starhopper completed tethered hop. All systems green.”
It was a very short test, but apparently the single Raptor engine was able to lift the huge mass off the ground and against the tethers holding it down. This constitutes an end-to-end test of the fuel systems, engine ignition sequences, and full combustion.
Starhopper will perform “hops” only with the single engine. When the other two engines are installed, SpaceX will proceed with increasingly high-altitude suborbital flights that demonstrate lateral movement and controlled powered landing.
So far it looks like they are right on schedule, despite the timeline being ridiculed by many as “written in Elon Time”.
We’re gonna see this baby fly free as promised, and soon.
4 replies on “Starhopper Hops”
Exciting step, seeing this thing roar to life for even a brief moment! I was wondering whether they actually achieved a “hop”. Too bad it was obscured by the curtain of smoke. Looking forward to future “hops” in which there will be no doubt.
The CEO used the word “Hop”, but remember that that can mean anything down to zero weight/no motion. I suspect it probably pushed in the restraining straps a bit, and probably came about an inch off the ground.
Exactly as planned, and that’s why I like his approach. Rather than Blue Origin’s “Gradatim Ferociter” (step-by-step, fiercely) I think SpaceX is more “Arroganter Ingreditur Confidenter” (leaping confidently).
LOL, don’t ask me how I know but this movie (The Angry Red Planet – 1959) was on last weekend. Elon’s project, while a little stubbier, has a strange similarity to this one as you mentioned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJQujcyncBk
Oh, that is a terrible movie! But it is angry, and it is red. Watched it a few months ago for the first time.