Watch SpaceX’s reusable rocket fly to 1,000m and then return to the ground to land

We were pretty impressed last month when SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket conducted a successful test at 250 meters and, in the same vein, the latest video footage of it going even higher is equally as worthy of your attention.

SpaceX is aiming to shake things up and make all rockets reusable, a move that could save the industry vast amounts of money. In the latest test of its capabilities, the reusable rocket ‘hops’ — as SpaceX refers to the manoeuvre — to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) before returning to land safely.

SpaceX is planning a serious ambitious leap in extra-planetary rocket technology, so it’s natural that we like to keep track of these things. The last time we wrote about one of its reusable rockets was when the Grasshopper, the smaller and now-retired predecessor to the Falcon 9, hopped 744 meters before returning to land.

➤ Via @elonmusk

Thumbnail image via Steve Jurvetson / Flickr