SpaceX Grasshopper takes another hop

Video of Grasshopper's newest hop.

Part of SpaceX's long term vision is increasing the reusability of its components.  This would allow SpaceX to reduce the all-important cost per pound to orbit even more.

As mentioned here, the Dragon capsule, unlike many other spacecraft, returns to earth to be reused.  But the 178 foot, 368 ton Falcon 9 rocket currently ends up in the Atlantic ocean.

The Grasshopper project is the R&D effort to change that.  The goal is to have the Falcon 9 return to earth using a autonomous, precision landing system.  This system would guide the rocket to make a precise landing at a specified site so that the rocket could be reused.

The first test of Grasshopper was September 21st of this year.  The new test was of Grasshopper occurred last week (November 1st).  The new test, at 17.7 feet, more than doubled the height of the first test which was only 6 feet.  The plan is conduct many tests, with increasingly larger "hops" over the next several years.

Wired did a nice write up of the test here.

Video of the first hop:

SpaceX: All systems are "Go"

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is on a fiery upward trajectory. 

Please excuse the somewhat cheesy analogy, but they're certainly the current darling of the media and the public.  I visited Hawthorne, CA over the summer, and the local residents are both excited and proud of SpaceX.  It may end up being the biggest thing to come out of Hawthorne since the Beach Boys.  Their location - adjacent to the Hawthorne Municipal Airport, close to a major East-West freeway (the 105), and near the LA International Airport - is in a part of Hawthorne that is undergoing rejuvenation, with new retail businesses springing up in the surrounding area (I happened to be going to the Lowe's which turned out to be a pretty new store, just a block away from SpaceX).  I don't know if SpaceX has any thing to do with the localized boom, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it is helping lift Hawthorne's economy and housing values.

And business is up for the company.  In addition to their recent contract awards with NASA, they have just added several new commercial flight bookings to their backlog.  

Of course the biggest news at the moment is their first International Space Station resupply mission, CRS-1 (SpaceX press kit), scheduled for lift off tomorrow.  This mission comes just over 4 months after having proved their capability with their final COTS demo missions (NASA press kit, NASA COTS - Commercial Orbital Transportation Services).  If you're following SpaceX, or the space industry in general, you've heard the details already from dozens of sources.  But if not, the launch is scheduled for 8:35 pm tomorrow - Sunday, October 7th - from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 40.  Details can be found at this NASA mission page, and the launch will be telecast live from SpaceX as well as on NASA TV.

And while preparing to become the first commercial resupply mission to the ISS may be the current, and most visible initiative - it isn't the only iron the Hawthorne based company has in the fire.  Other projects that are being actively pursued include: 

• A new, more powerful, Merlin engine; 
• The Falcon Heavy launch vehicle; 
• Development of the SuperDraco engine;
• A human rated version of the Dragon spacecraft to provide "Space Taxi" services;
• The development of a new launch site at the Vandenberg Air Force base; 
• The Grasshopper VTVL which had it's initial test flight last week; 
• And DragonLab, an initiative to outfit the Dragon spacecraft as an orbiting laboratory.

In addition to these well defined initiatives, SpaceX (or at least Elon Musk) has loosely defined goals that are not yet in any concrete phase, such as the "Red Dragon" mission to mars.

Further reading (which I deliberately pulled from a variety of sources):
Comprehensive write up of SpaceX launch capabilities
Merlin 1D Engine
Falcon Heavy
SuperDraco
Human rated Dragon progress 
Vandenberg Launch Site
Falcon Grasshopper
DragonLab