SpaceX Grasshopper vertical-landing research rocket
Grasshopper was SpaceX’s low-altitude reusable flight testbed for Falcon recovery technology. A Falcon 9 first-stage structure, one Merlin 1D engine and four steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers supported repeated powered takeoff and landing. FAA records document three McGregor flights in 2012; the later NASA-hosted control-testbed review records eight flights overall.
Follow this vehicle family
Future launches and major activity directly linked to this vehicle family.
Identity
- Aliases
- GrasshopperGrasshopper v1.0
- Family Name
- Grasshopper
- Full Name
- SpaceX Grasshopper vertical-landing research rocket
- Roles
- researchexperimentaltechnology_demonstrator
- Status
- retired
- Type
- rocket
Details
- Description
- Grasshopper was SpaceX’s low-altitude reusable flight testbed for Falcon recovery technology. A Falcon 9 first-stage structure, one Merlin 1D engine and four steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers supported repeated powered takeoff and landing. FAA records document three McGregor flights in 2012; the later NASA-hosted control-testbed review records eight flights overall.
- First Flight Year
- 2,012
- Manufacturer
- Operator
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- other
- Propulsion System
- Role
- landing
- Variant Notes
- One Merlin 1D for takeoff, hover and powered landing; not the nine-engine orbital Falcon 9 complement.
- Name
- Grasshopper single-engine installation
- Rocket Specs
- Reusability
- fully_reusable
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- October 29, 2026 at 16:02:08 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 16:02:08 UTC