- $4 has confirmed that SpaceX $4 or "hops" of a new spaceship prototype in Texas this week.
- Called the "Test Hopper," the vehicle is a prototype of a more advanced, 400-foot-tall launch system called $4, which SpaceX is designing to send people to Mars.
- Musk also shared critical updates about Starship's heat shield, test-launch plan, construction timeline, and more.
When updates about SpaceX's plans rain from Elon Musk, they tend to pour.
Such was the case on Sunday, when Musk - the rocket company's founder - logged onto Twitter to divulge the latest information about a 40-story launch system called Starship.
The ultimate goal for the Starship system is to ferry up to 100 people and 150 tons of cargo to and from the $4. It's being $4, which may reduce current launch costs by 10- to 100-fold (and further disrupt the launch industry).
To prove the effectiveness of the technologies required to get Starship into orbit, SpaceX has feverishly developed a prototype called "Test Hopper" at its launch site $4. The shiny steel vehicle can't reach orbit, and will instead just do short launches or "hops" of no higher than 16,400 feet (hence its name).
Over the weekend, following reports that SpaceX was $4, Musk took to Twitter to answer questions from his followers. In the process, he shared new details about the Test Hopper's launch testing, changes to Starship's heat shield, construction of orbital-class spaceships, and more.
Here are five important things we learned.