Loren Elliott/Getty Images News/Getty Images
On August 27, 2019, SpaceX’s Starhopper — a low-altitude prototype for the Starship system — made its last test flight.
Starhopper was active for just a year, completing two static test fires and four test flights, the last of which saw it flying 150 meters up before landing safely.
Starhopper was the first craft to test SpaceX’s Raptor engine in flight. A version of that same rocket is still being used by SpaceX today.
After Starhopper, it would be nearly a year until the next Starship prototype completed a successful test flight, with SN5’s 150-meter flight on August 4, 2020.
The next big step for Starship will be SN20’s orbital flight test, which could come as soon as September 2021. SN20 became the tallest rocket in the world in August when it was stacked on the Super Heavy booster.
GREGG NEWTON/AFP/Getty Images
SpaceX has also been making progress with its Dragon capsule, which is made to carry cargo and passengers into space.
On May 30, 2020, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon carried two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time, atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
GREGG NEWTON/AFP/Getty Images
A four-person crew flew to the ISS aboard a Crew Dragon in November 2020. They returned to Earth in May 2021, breaking the record for the longest crewed spacecraft mission ever.
Dragon capsules have also carried supplies to the ISS, most recently on August 29 (seen as a small dot in the lower-left corner of this video).
- SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will carry the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew into orbit as early as September 2021.
- SN20 awaits its orbital test flight ahead of plans to send it to the Moon by 2024.
Shutterstock
Read more stories on space here.