Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, stated on Saturday that his team could create a Raptor rocket engine every 48 hours.
The interplanetary transport engines, which were first reported in 2016, can generate 500,000 pounds of thrust. These are critical to SpaceX's intentions to assist NASA in returning to the moon and then moving on to Mars.
SpaceX's Starship, which is planned to power the next moon lander, is designed to be powered by the Raptor's "insane power," Business Insider said.
HAWTHORNE-CA-MAY 29: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils the company's new manned spacecraft, The Dragon V2, designed to carry astronauts into space during a news conference on May 29, 2014, in Hawthorne, California. The private spaceflight company has been flying unmanned capsules to the Space Station delivering cargo for the past two years. The Dragon V2 manned spacecraft will ferry up to seven astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
Science Times reported that NASA selected SpaceX as its lone partner for the Artemis lunar mission in April. However, Business Insider said the contract work was held in late April pending a Government Accountability Office review. This came after a protest from another bidder, led by Jeff Bezos' space exploration business Blue Origin.
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More Than 20 Raptors Would Power SpaceX Starship Rocket
SpaceX's Starship rocket would be powered by 29 Raptor engines in its booster stage, Musk stated in another tweet on Saturday. Later this year, that number will rise to 32, with each engine's thrust increasing. Long-term, they want to achieve a thrust of more than 7500 tons.
@twitter|https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1398761944606285828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw@
Musk responded on Twitter after Tim Dodd, the host of the YouTube series Everyday Astronaut questioned whether rocket production was a "bit of a bottleneck."
Blue Origin Expressed Concern Again Over SpaceX New Development
Some in the business and the government are concerned that SpaceX's prototypes would explode during test flights. Blue Origin expressed similar concerns on Twitter last week.
"The Human Landing System program needs competition, not the delay of starting over. The National Team has an open architecture, deep experience, massive self-funded investments and a safe, low-risk design to return to the Moon. Let's go," Blue Origin said on its Twitter account.
@twitter|https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1398172089778061318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw@
Blue Origin, which had a higher bid price for the Artemis contract than SpaceX, received a response from Musk on Friday. "For the low, low price of ... ?" Musk replied on Twitter.
SpaceX Conducts Fire Test To Raptor Engines
A local citizen and unofficial SpaceX witness claim to have heard a five-minute test of one of Starship's Raptor engines in the company's McGregor, Texas development facilities.
Since full-scale Raptor testing began in the two years, it could be the longest static burn of a Starship engine SpaceX has ever done. A five- or six-minute static burn would demonstrate that SpaceX is well on its way to qualifying Raptor for Starship's initial orbital launch attempts.
@twitter|https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1398761944606285828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw@
Several key information concerning Starship's initial "Orbital Test Flight" were revealed in an FCC "Special Temporary Authority" (STA) request submitted by SpaceX earlier this month. It also contained a detailed chronology of launch events, which Teslarati shared in their report.
They also reported that Starship would try a splashdown - off the shore of a Hawaiian island after traveling 75% of the way around the Earth. Regardless, whether or not SpaceX confirms it, the first unofficially confirmed orbital-duration test is an exciting and significant milestone, demonstrating that the corporation is now almost totally focused on reaching orbit (or getting close).
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