SpaceX revealed the most heavily armed rocket engine in the world

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At the beginning of the year, the founder of SpaceX Space Corporation, Ilon Musk, published a photo of the prototype of the latest superheavy Starship rocket, which was developed for interplanetary flights. Moreover, on his Twitter, a businessman-engineer emphasized that the image is a genuine shot, not a render.





Now it became known about the first tests of the engine, called Raptor, which will be equipped with the rocket. It was he, according to Ilon Mask, who was called to accelerate the process of "conquering" the moon. It is worth noting that to date, the unit is a champion in terms of thrust-weight ratio. And it uses a mixture of methane and oxygen as fuel.

Space X plans to install Raptor not only on the launch vehicle, but also on the spacecraft themselves, which will allow them to easily enter a given orbit. This will significantly save development time and will reduce the cost of the power unit itself. In addition, designers are considering reusable use of it.


All of the above advantages should draw the attention of NASA to the new engine, which will allow SpaceX to work more closely with the space agency. According to the information received, test launches of the Starship rocket are scheduled for March this year. And the first flight of the "superheavy" should take place in 2020.
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  1. gorbunov.vladisl
    gorbunov.vladisl
    -1
    6 February 2019 11: 39
    SpaceX revealed the most heavily armed rocket engine in the world

    Come on.... crying
    SpaceX Raptor thrust about 200 tf.
    Russian RD-180 - 390,2 tf.
    Soviet RD-170 - 740 tf (!!!)
    Soviet (as far as 1970) RD-270 - 640 tf.
    1. shurikvo
      shurikvo
      +3
      6 February 2019 12: 56
      Thrust-to-weight ratio - thrust to weight ratio
      1. gorbunov.vladisl
        gorbunov.vladisl
        -1
        8 February 2019 05: 44
        Thrust-to-weight ratio - thrust to weight ratio

        That's right. But since the dry weight of the Raptor is not indicated, I gave data on traction. I do not think that the Rapptor is much lighter than our engines. Which craving many times more.
    2. Achilles86
      Achilles86
      +2
      6 February 2019 14: 43
      Vlad, thrust-weight ratio: RD-180 - 77,3; RD-170 - 82,66; RD-270 - 189,91
    3. mister-red
      mister-red
      +2
      6 February 2019 20: 24
      RD-270 - heptyl, this is not the topic.
      Raptor should be compared faster with the single-chamber RD-191, which has a thrust of 212 tf
      Thrust-to-weight ratio is the ratio of thrust to weight. U RD-191 ~ 96, NK-33 ~ 122
  2. 17085
    17085
    +1
    6 February 2019 12: 37
    It becomes a tradition ... If about the Mask - then another volley.
    As I understand it, THIS did not explode (too literary expression revolves in the language), only by a lucky chance. And the operating time is less than 1 second, however, like the mass - 5 tons, no less, they simply fascinate. Does he even throw himself?
  3. Stabilizer_Inertioid
    Stabilizer_Inertioid
    +2
    7 February 2019 10: 24
    This is a methane engine - it should have at least two times more thrust than kerosene (RD), since methane alone produces more thrust. But methane has a huge disadvantage - huge tanks, which give a huge load and friction. Therefore, the ratio of thrust to mass should be really 200-250 minimum, which would correspond to the level of Russian taxiways. And to fly to Mars, I think even more.
    Building light and small engines on methane is very dangerous due to the loss of reliability and rapid burnout. Due to the high combustion temperature, but also traction. Space-X reached this ratio of 200 by reducing the weight to 500 kg (although this is very suspicious, since the alloys are known there), that is, it reduced reliability by several times.
    What is Elon Musk doing? Musk digs up old projects that had reached an impasse at one time, resuscitates them and knocks them down under this loot. It instructs engineers from corporations to create mock-ups with certain increased characteristics, without taking into account their shortcomings. These are simply manipulations with some optimization characteristics to the detriment of others. Makes bench starts, hiding restrictions or makes short starts in which the model does not show itself and quickly pushes everything into the barn.