The SpaceX® Starhopper & # 39; is about to make his biggest jump

It seems that the prototype of Elon Musk's spacecraft, nicknamed "Starhopper", has the green light to reach its highest jump on Monday.

SpaceX had planned to test the single-engine version of its future Mars vehicle with its second short flight last week, but the launch was abruptly canceled. Musk later tweeted that the Federal Aviation Administration needed a little more risk analysis and that Starhopper "should be able to take off soon".

The FAA has announced the closing of a new airspace in the area surrounding the SpaceX test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, from Monday afternoon until Wednesday evening.

So it looks like we could finally see Starhopper doing some serious maneuvers. His last test hop It was a short takeoff, hovering and night landing of 20 meters (66 feet), which was mostly masked by fire, smoke and darkness.

This time, hope is that Starhopper will reach an altitude of about 198 meters before returning to the ground.

If this next jump is successful, said Musk, he will follow him with a public presentation "hopefully in mid-September", informing us of the design and vision of Starship.

In previous presentations in recent years, Musk has presented his project to use his next-generation heavy launcher (also previously known as the BFR or Big Falcon Rocket) to help build one. colony on Mars, send a group of artists on travel around the moon and even organize transcontinental journeys on Earth.

But before that happens, Starhopper has to show that he has real chops, hopefully soon.