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SpaceX has successfully tested its brand new and latest Raptor engine for the first time according to Elon Musk, its CEO and Gwynne Shotwell, its president. Raptor 3 is SpaceX's most powerful rocket engine to date, and it's built to endure the stresses of spaceflight without needing a heat shield or being compromised by joints.
SpaceX's Starship full stack tests have seen several Raptor 2 engine failures, some of which have led to fires inside the engine bay. One problem faced by the engine has been hot gas leakage, which has led to the fires. The Raptor 3 also significantly upgrades its thrust over its predecessor and significantly reduces weight over the current Raptor 2 engines that power Starship.
SpaceX's Raptor 3 Engine Looks Too Good To Be True
SpaceX's Raptor is the most complex piece of equipment for the Starship rocket. Starship currently uses 33 Raptor 2 engines, making it the only rocket in human history to do so. These engines are also one of its biggest constraints since the sheer number of them used on the rocket means that if SpaceX can rapidly conduct test flights, then it could run out of its inventory.
With Starship launches currently limited to under five per year and Raptor production having increased its pace, SpaceX is in a comfortable position with its engines right now. A presentation given by Elon Musk earlier this year outlined a Raptor engine upgrade called Raptor 3. This engine was pitched as having a significantly simpler design over its predecessor, and after Musk shared an image of the engine last month, he and SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell have confirmed that the Raptor 3 has been fired up for the first time.
According to SpaceX, the sea level Raptor 3 can generate 280 ton force (tf) of thrust, which is 51% higher than the first generation Raptor's 185tf thrust. Compared to the seal level Raptor 2, which currently powers Starship, the Raptor 3 generates 22% more thrust. Additionally, the engine has a significantly simplified design over its predecessor, which means that it is lighter than the Raptors 1 and 2. SpaceX's specifications share that the Raptor 1 and Raptor 2 weigh 2,080 kilograms and 1,630 kilograms without the equipment that connects them to Starship. With this equipment, the two engines weigh 3,630 kilograms and 2,875 kilograms, respectively.
On the other hand, the Raptor 3 weighs 1,525 kilograms and 1,720 kilograms, respectively. This means that with the equipment, the Raptor 3 weighs less than half compared to the first generation Raptor design.
This weight reduction and reduced external complexity aim to ensure that the engine does not need a heat shield. During reentry, a rocket experiences significant heat, which can damage its engines, forcing SpaceX to install a heat shield on its engines. However, details shared by Elon Musk last month confirm that the Raptor 3 will not require the shield.
Sharing that the "next gen Raptor engine needs no heat shield," Musk revealed that "because it's exposed, it has to have cooling. So there's integral cooling circuits throughout the, all the parts. So it looks very simple on the outside, but it's complicated on the inside." The engine's "secondary circuits and integral cooling are part of each part," explained Musk. Not only do these circuits flow through each part, but SpaceX also eliminated "a whole bunch of bolted and welded joints. So, especially the bolted joints," added Musk, since "bolted flanges and seals are hell, especially if they are hot."
This simplification comes at a cost, though. According to Musk, the Raptor 3 "is actually a little difficult to service because there are parts that don't have a flange anymore; it's just welded shut." To make repairs, SpaceX will have to cut the engine open, and a key flange that's removed appears to be the "massive bolted flange for the hot gas manifold that's transferring hot gas from the fuel rich hot gas from fuel pump side" on the Raptor 2 engine that was responsible for some complications on the first Starship test flight.
