SpaceX conducted another test flight of its Starhopper prototype starship on Tuesday, this time flying it more than 150 meters in the air. Tuesday’s flight shattered the height record initially set by the first untethered flight just last month, during which the Starhopper prototype flew just 20 meters above the ground.
Many locals were advised by authorities to leave the surrounding area, as any malfunction during the flight could have been loud enough to shatter the windows of nearby homes. Fortunately, no malfunction occurred.
Starhopper is powered by a Raptor engine, which utilizes liquid oxygen and liquid methane to produce high volumes of thrust. In this video, we see the Raptor engine carrying the Starhopper prototype high into the air before carefully letting it back down on the ground to perform a steady landing.
If you look carefully, you can see the Raptor engine carefully adjusting Starhopper’s trajectory by tilting from side to side to maintain stability.