SpaceX Prototype Starship Survives Low-Altitude Hop
A prototype Mars-class reusable spaceship developed by SpaceX took a nearly 500-ft (150 m) hop off a launch stand near Brownsville, Texas, on Aug. 4, deploying landing legs and touching down 45 sec. later, marking the company’s first successful Starship test flight in a year. Powered by a single, methane- and liquid oxygen-burning Raptor engine, the 98-ft tall, 30-ft dia. vehicle—known as SN5—lifted off shortly before 8 p.m. EDT, live webcasts by freelance photographer Trevor Mahlmann and other independent media sites showed.