Grasshopper Rocket Made by SpaceX Achieves Record Jump

A SpaceX experimental rocket, called the Grasshopper, made a record jump recently, reaching a height of 80.1 meters, the company announced in March 2013.

"This is Grasshopper's fourth in a series of test flights, with each test demonstrating exponential increases in altitude. Last September [2012], Grasshopper flew to 2.5 meters, in November, it flew to 5.4 meters and in December, it flew to 40 meters," the company said in a statement.

The Grasshopper not only achieved its highest hop, but also landed with unmatched precision. The Grasshopper is SpaceX's vertical and takeoff and landing (VTVL) vehicle.

The company says that the use of the Grasshopper could make it possible to land a rockets again. The rockets could then be reused as they can be safely brought back to Earth without being destroyed by Earth's atmosphere. 

"If we can't make rockets reusable, the cost is just prohibitive," said Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of SpaceX at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, reports Discovery News. "The cost of the fuel and oxidizer on a Falcon 9 (SpaceX rocket) is 0.3 percent of the cost of the rocket, so it's basically a very tiny number, similar to an airplane."

The Falcon 9 is a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle made by the company.