<p>A private space travel company in the US claims to have successfully launched its prototype rocket, in a major step towards producing a reusable space vehicle and slash the cost of journey.<br /><br /></p>.<p>California-based SpaceX’s Grasshopper reusable rocket took a giant leap for commercial space flight last week when it rose 131 feet and landed safely back on earth.<br />The latest launch by the company, which has already run resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS), is a major step in their ambition to produce a reusable space vehicle, the Daily Mail reported.<br /><br />During the 29-second test flight conducted on December 17, the Grasshopper rocket rose to a height of 131 feet - around ten storeys - and hovered before landing safely on its launch pad using “closed loop thrust vector and throttle control”.<br /><br />The Grasshopper, in its previous two flights, has managed to hover at six feet and 17 feet before settling back down.<br /><br />“To provide a little perspective on the size of Grasshopper, we added a 6 feet cowboy to the rocket,” company’s founder Elon Musk tweeted.<br /><br />Powered by a Falcon 9 rocket and Merlin 1D engine, the Grasshopper is designed to take off and land vertically - part of SpaceX’s plan to develop a rocket that can return to a launch pad for rapid reuse.<br /><br />Grasshopper has four steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers and a steel support structure to keep it intact when it settles back down.<br /><br />Vertical-takeoff space vehicles developed thus far rely on disposable lower stages, which adds millions of dollars to the cost of launching spacecraft into orbit.<br /><br />The new gen-next reusable rockets that can launch, fly and land would dramatically slash the cost of travelling into space.<br /><br />Musk declared the launch a success, writing on Twitter: “No problemo”. SpaceX has already achieved the feat of becoming the first private company to launch a successful mission to the ISS, the report said.</p>
<p>A private space travel company in the US claims to have successfully launched its prototype rocket, in a major step towards producing a reusable space vehicle and slash the cost of journey.<br /><br /></p>.<p>California-based SpaceX’s Grasshopper reusable rocket took a giant leap for commercial space flight last week when it rose 131 feet and landed safely back on earth.<br />The latest launch by the company, which has already run resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS), is a major step in their ambition to produce a reusable space vehicle, the Daily Mail reported.<br /><br />During the 29-second test flight conducted on December 17, the Grasshopper rocket rose to a height of 131 feet - around ten storeys - and hovered before landing safely on its launch pad using “closed loop thrust vector and throttle control”.<br /><br />The Grasshopper, in its previous two flights, has managed to hover at six feet and 17 feet before settling back down.<br /><br />“To provide a little perspective on the size of Grasshopper, we added a 6 feet cowboy to the rocket,” company’s founder Elon Musk tweeted.<br /><br />Powered by a Falcon 9 rocket and Merlin 1D engine, the Grasshopper is designed to take off and land vertically - part of SpaceX’s plan to develop a rocket that can return to a launch pad for rapid reuse.<br /><br />Grasshopper has four steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers and a steel support structure to keep it intact when it settles back down.<br /><br />Vertical-takeoff space vehicles developed thus far rely on disposable lower stages, which adds millions of dollars to the cost of launching spacecraft into orbit.<br /><br />The new gen-next reusable rockets that can launch, fly and land would dramatically slash the cost of travelling into space.<br /><br />Musk declared the launch a success, writing on Twitter: “No problemo”. SpaceX has already achieved the feat of becoming the first private company to launch a successful mission to the ISS, the report said.</p>