After a last-minute scrub of its test flight Monday, SpaceX successfully launched its Starhopper prototype Tuesday in Texas.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted that the igniters for the vehicle's raptor engine needed to be inspected Monday after the failed attempt. But everything looked picture perfect during Tuesday's test flight.
But even as the company gets off the ground in Texas, a second team in Florida is working on its own starship.
SpaceX is also in the process of building a second starship at its facility in Cocoa, Florida.
The Starhopper vehicle and its super heavy booster, is a reusable rocket system being developed by SpaceX for crewed and uncrewed missions to the moon and Mars.
"It's amazing to watch what's going on out there," said Dale Ketcham, with Space Florida. "A lot of driven people doing hard work, but you can see the results."
Musk was recently in Central Florida to check on the progress himself.
Space Florida is doing all it can to ensure as much Starship activity as possible will happen on the Space Coast.
"We're certainly working very hard to see that one of those locations, if not the only one, is here in Florida," Ketcham said. "That would be another huge development for the Space Coast and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport."
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