BROWNSVILLE, Texas — SpaceX continues to reach new heights in pursuit of deep-space exploration, this time successfully reaching 150 meters with its Starship SN5 prototype, according to The Verge.
SpaceX released video Tuesday showing the prototype completing a 150-meter (that's nearly 500 feet) jump at the company’s test site near Brownsville, Texas. The Verge said it’s the largest test version of the massive spaceship to hit the skies.
It was just a short hop. But it could have bigger implications as the private-owned company attempts to create spacecrafts capable of bringing people to the moon. And someday, we may even see our first person on Mars.
SpaceX recently made history as the first private company to safely send astronauts into space and back home, again.
The real Starship will be nearly 400 feet wide and 30 feet wide. It will be able to haul more than 100 tons of cargo into low Earth orbit, the company claims.
Of course, not alone. It’ll be mounted on a massive rocket booster called the Super Heavy.
Super Heavy and Starship will be fueled by SpaceX’s new powerful rocket engine, the Raptor. The Starship prototype had only one these impressive rocket engines while the final version is expected to have six.
It could be sometime before Starship is complete and ready for space, but Tuesday was an exciting accomplishment nonetheless.