Watch SpaceX's Grasshopper Launch, Hover, Travel Horizontally, and Return Safely Back to Earth (Video)

Elon Musk's experimental vertical launch and landing rocket, the Grasshopper, just made another successful test flight. Watch the video below.

The Grasshopper - Elon Musk's attempt at a building a reusable rocket for SpaceX that can take off and land vertically - just had another spectacular and successful test. Previous Grasshopper tests had the Grasshopper taking off, hovering above the launch pad at very high distances - like 820 feet above the Earth - and then safely returning back to its launch pad. Successive tests have pushed the height boundary further and further.

This time, the Grasshopper took off and went to that 820 feet altitude and then flew over 300 feet sideways, before returning to where it was and landing vertically back on the Launchpad. It's pretty impressive, especially when you consider the Grasshopper, which is flying around like a remote-controlled aircraft, is 10 stories tall and hovering at an altitude higher than many skyscrapers. It's also incredible progress, considering the first flight test took less than three seconds and went to a height of six feet.

The Grasshopper is an experimental reusable launch vehicle that is trying to make vertical takeoffs and landings a regular, common occurrence. It's built to support Elon Musk's SpaceX program in order to help the development of reusable Falcon 9 and Flacon Heavy rockets, which are the first stage of transporting payloads into orbit.

In a statement, SpaceX said that this test was "an important part of the trajectory in order to land the rocket precisely back at the launch site after reentering from space at hypersonic velocity." The company plans on moving its testing to a commercial spaceport in New Mexico later, but for now the Grasshopper tests will continue in Texas.

Check out SpaceX's channel on YouTube for videos of all of the Grasshopper's test flights, and watch the Grasshopper incrementally get more and more futuristic in its launch and landing abilities.