What SpaceX just Did with New Raptor 3 HUMILIATED the Entire Rocket Industry...REPLAY#3
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What SpaceX just Did with New Raptor 3 HUMILIATED the Entire Rocket Industry...REPLAY#3
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for SpaceX's next masterpiece, the highly anticipated third-generation marvel of the Raptor family—Raptor 3—to make its grand debut.
Looks amazing, right?
This marks a significant milestone in SpaceX’s development. Even more exciting, none other than SpaceX founder Elon Musk himself has revealed the first images of this version, along with some astonishing revelations.
So, what did Elon Musk reveal? How will Raptor 3 impact SpaceX and the aerospace industry?
It can be said that after four integrated flights with significant strides, everyone has been eagerly anticipating major changes with Starship. Over the past year, we’ve seen specific developments in the production system, the test system, the launch system, and the new version of Starship. The last piece of the puzzle we’ve been waiting for is the new engine version, Raptor 3.
What SpaceX just Did with New Raptor 3 HUMILIATED the Entire Rocket Industry...REPLAY#3
The anticipation for Raptor 3 has been immense because, unlike other systems, Raptor 3 was first leaked from tests in mid-2022. Since then, Elon Musk has continuously teased Raptor 3 in company talks. I often found myself shouting, "Let it appear, please!"
And it seems Elon Musk heard my wish.
On August 2, Elon Musk unveiled the first image of Raptor 3 on X with the caption: "Raptor 3, SN1." To mark this important event, Musk even changed the cover image on his X page, featuring Raptor 3 standing in the middle, flanked by Raptor 1 and Raptor 2.
As the tweet revealed, the engine proudly displays the notable number 1. Number 1 signifies a new beginning. Please respond with “1” in the comment section to celebrate this meaningful milestone.
What SpaceX just Did with New Raptor 3 HUMILIATED the Entire Rocket Industry...REPLAY#3
Next, we will discuss what you’re probably most interested in: the design. It looks extremely neat and simple, yet it implies a huge power behind the black cover. In fact, it matches the image that SpaceX revealed before.
Elon Musk described it as: “Truly, a work of art.” Even Everyday Astronaut expressed his awe: “This is absolutely absurd engineering to simplify an engine down like this.”
So how did SpaceX upgrade their monster?
In the same tweet, Elon Musk explained: “The amount of work required to simplify the Raptor engine, internalize secondary flow paths, and add regenerative cooling for exposed components was staggering.”
Visually, we can see that the small systems on V1 or V2 have almost disappeared. Only a few small, sturdy pipes remain, combined with large, highly unified systems. This indicates that complex and vulnerable systems have been eliminated or integrated together, thereby reducing many risks.
