Elon Musk is in Texas for the test firing of the Raptor Engine that will be used on the Starhopper test vehicle.
There has been over 1200 seconds of testing over two years on previous versions of the Raptor engine.
The new raptor engine has been radically redesigned.
Raptor is a staged combustion, methane-fueled rocket engine. They use cryogenic liquid methane and liquid oxygen (LOX) instead of RP-1 kerosene and LOX used in the current Merlin engines.
Rocket Engine Comparison from Wikipedia
At @SpaceX Texas with engineering team getting ready to fire new Raptor rocket engine pic.twitter.com/ACFM8AtY8w
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2019
Preparing to fire the Starship Raptor engine at @SpaceX Texas pic.twitter.com/8JCOi1BG6z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2019
Initially making one 200 metric ton thrust engine common across ship & booster to reach the moon as fast as possible. Next versions will split to vacuum-optimized (380+ sec Isp) & sea-level thrust optimized (~250 ton).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2019
Here is a great size comparison of the new Raptor engine by NSF/alhenry1231. @John_Gardi @CowboyDanPaasch @Avron_p @julia_bergeron
NSF/alhenry1231 pic.twitter.com/9tESILgncE— Roger Holt (@RogerLewisHolt) February 3, 2019
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.