Raptor Engine - General Development Discussion and News

[ecarfan]

Thanks, very informative video from Scott as always!

It seems like there should be a more accurate term than “wings” (the word Scott kept using) for the rear control surfaces attached to the Starship body. In aircraft that word, as I understand it, denotes that part of the structure that provides lift.

On the Starship those rear control surfaces do not provide lift as far as I know. Instead they control the vehicle attitude as it descends through the atmosphere of whatever planet the vehicle is attempting to land on.

I think the word “flaps” would be more accurate. Extremely knowledgeable people like Scott Manley should use a more accurate term than “wings”.

I can’t recall what word(s) Elon has used for those rear control surfaces. Anyone know?

 

[Grendal]

 

[Cosmacelf]

Is it just me, or does it seem that Elon knows a lot more about rocket engineering than he does about various car engineering specialties?

 

[ICUDoc]

Is it just me, or does it seem that Elon knows a lot more about rocket engineering than he does about various car engineering specialties?

Not sure, but he is clearly a brilliant man.
Flawed, yes.
But brilliant.

 

[e-FTW]

Is it just me, or does it seem that Elon knows a lot more about rocket engineering than he does about various car engineering specialties?

Seems plausible: he became a rocket engineer, not an automotive engineer.
But he could probably take on most auto engineers.

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1413736546373718016

https://twitter.com/x/status/1413909599711907845

https://twitter.com/x/status/1413911893316603908

 

[HVM]

Raptor 2. Wow! Time to made a new thread?

 

[ICUDoc]

He dreams big, this fellow. Really, really big.

 

[Cosmacelf]

"[Mars] City itself probably takes roughly 20 years, so hopefully it is built by ~2050."

I'll be 87 years old then (I hope). Might see it. Oh, but wait, Elon time

 

[Grendal]

Raptor 2. Wow! Time to made a new thread?

I changed the thread title to generalize and expand it. Let the discussion launch to new heights!

I hope for Raptor 2 to be a serious upgrade along the lines of the Merlin 1D from the Merlin 1C. As I expect from SpaceX for the Raptor, the Merlin 1D was still upgraded further times until it reached the Block 5 version that is a fully robust and thoroughly reusable engine.

 

[EVCollies]

Appears the Raptor furthest to the right has flown before.

 

[scaesare]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1413736546373718016

https://twitter.com/x/status/1413909599711907845

https://twitter.com/x/status/1413911893316603908

800-1000 Raptors a year... That's in the neighborhood of 20-25 Starship + Boosters a year. For a decade straight. And these aren't expendable... so that's a growing fleet.

Wow.

 

[adiggs]

"[Mars] City itself probably takes roughly 20 years, so hopefully it is built by ~2050."

I'll be 87 years old then (I hope). Might see it. Oh, but wait, Elon time

Elon time.

You can be confident that it'll happen sometime after 2050.


And unlike everybody else even thinking about it, much less talking about it, you can be confident it'll happen a lot sooner than it would have without Elon putting his attention and energy into it.

I like Elon time.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

"[Mars] City itself probably takes roughly 20 years, so hopefully it is built by ~2050."

I'll be 87 years old then (I hope). Might see it. Oh, but wait, Elon time

First step is to build the rocket that can do it at the right cost. Once they have that, the reality will speed up the engineering of everything else.

 

[HVM]

VP of propulsion Will Heltsley has left the company, and Elon describes situation like this:
"Unfortunately, the Raptor production crisis is much worse than it had seemed a few weeks ago. As we have dug into the issues following the exiting of prior senior management, they have unfortunately turned out to be far more severe than was reported. There is no way to sugarcoat this. ... The consequences for SpaceX if we can not get enough reliable Raptors made is that we then can’t fly Starship"

Both *commercial staged combustion methane engines are in some kind of crisis, did the "new space" (BO and SpX in this case) try to take too big step for engine development, or is this just temporary hiccup.

*(more than previous programs)

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1465763308284301321

 

[bxr140]

Honestly, this all feels like a nothing burger. Sometimes drama queens just gotta drama.

 

[Grendal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1465763308284301321

It sounds more like a production and manufacturing issue over a design issue. When you want a Raptor a day, or more, then getting one done a week is a crisis. The difference is two Starship and Super Heavies a year versus ten to twelve. When you want and need a thousand of them then you consider the slow rate a crisis.

 

[Gwgan]

Hearsay anecdote: a friend who lives near McGregor noted a change this past week from loud tests lasting 15 seconds during the day to over a minute later the day. A local church 15 miles from the factory is asking for funds from SpaceX for stained glass damage. They know people who live even closer who report cracks in their walls and hung pictures falling off walls.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Hearsay anecdote: a friend who lives near McGregor noted a change this past week from loud tests lasting 15 seconds during the day to over a minute later the day. A local church 15 miles from the factory is asking for funds from SpaceX for stained glass damage. They know people who live even closer who report cracks in their walls and hung pictures falling off walls.

Can you find out the name of the church and a way to donate?