Raptor 3 looks a bit like a Dalek. If it starts to say “Exterminate” run!
Iterative development seems to be the future for aerospace technologies.
CC
I saw an update video on YouTube that showed all three versions of the Raptor engine side by side. The improvements in versions 2 and 3 are obvious.
Musk has some geniuses working for him. I can’t wait to see it in action!
“The best part is no part.” (Musk saying)
That’s a great pic, showing the 1, 2, and 3 and the reduction in design complexity.
Still, despite its edge in areas including specific impulse over the F1 used in the Saturn V, there’s nothing like cubic inches. :^) I’m such a fuddy-duddy.
Meanwhile, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft remains stranded at the ISS, with no definitive plan as to how NASA plans to retrieve the crew. The Starliner should be renamed S.S. Minnow.
I just love when Elon Musk discusses moving TONNAGE into orbit, and farther.
The SuperHeavy Booster can today be considered operational as a one time use booster. Very soon, it will be reusable.
Bezos, Blue Origin, and SpaceX began just a short time apart. Musk and SpaceX have revolutionized rocketry. “They” said reusing rockets was a fool’s errand. One of my favorite parts of any SpaceX launch is called the “boost back burn.” After the first stage is done, it returns and lands near the launch site. The first step after booster separation is the “boost back burn” where the rocket turns and lights its engines to return to the launch site. With some SpaceX launches (both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy) if the trajectory demands it, some boosters land on a platform in the middle of an ocean. Wherever the boosters land, they are refurbished and used again, and again, and again. Musk and SpaceX are driving down the launch costs.
Once both SuperHeavy and Starship are fully reusable, the cost of placing TONNAGE in space will fall even more.
Meanwhile, Bezos and Blue Origin have launched Captain Kirk up and down.
36% lighter, 51% more thrust, and 100% more elegant
What’s not to like!