Space X’s Grasshopper rocket destroys previous best with 840ft hop

If you hadn’t already realised that Elon Musk’s Space X is going to be a major player in the future of space exploration, check this video out.

It shows the company’s Grasshopper rocket, which is capable of taking off and landing again. The reason that’s important is because it means that at some point in the near future we’ll have reusable rockets, presenting massive savings on current launches.

The rocket has taken off before, although this video shows it more than tripling its previous best effort of 263 feet (about 80 metres). This time around Grasshopper managed to reach 840 feet (256 metres) where it hovered for a few seconds before landing back on the ground.

If you didn’t watch that with some sense of awe, then you’re in dire need of some perspective. This is a private company, founded by one of the guys who started PayPal and it, not NASA, is grabbing the biggest headlines when it comes to the future of space travel.