The advances being made over at SpaceX are happening so rapidly it seems there's something new to report nearly every month. At least that's the case with the company's experiments with creating a reusable rocket that can land by descending in hover mode, much like the spaceships seen in many old school science fiction films.SpaceX's Grasshopper rocket has just achieved a new milestone by flying 820 feet in the air, stably hovering in place, and then returning to Earth, landing right back on top of its launch platform. The previous takeoff and hover record for the 10-story tall rocket was 262.8 feet, back in March.
Termed as a Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle, the Grasshopper is seen as one possible future for commercially viable reusable rockets. UAV fans will be pleased to note that Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, says that this latest video was recorded using a hexacopter.
You can see the Grasshopper rocket in action in the video below. VIDEO
Via Elon Musk
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