SpaceX’s Mars-bound rocket gets an amazing upgrade

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The Raptor Engine, a SpaceX rocket engine designed to send humans to Mars and beyond, is getting a sequel.

Last week, CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that the company plans to build an engine known as the “Raptor 2”. This would be a more powerful version of the Raptor engine, which is currently being used for the Starship vehicle in development.

It’s a huge boost to the engine behind the Musk rocket heading to Mars. First unveiled in 2017, the Starship stainless steel rocket is called “BFR,” a fully reusable liquid oxygen and methane rocket. Unlike previous rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which used rocket fuel as part of its fuel, the new Starship fuel is intended to enable astronauts to fly to Mars and refuel using the planet’s resources.

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SpaceX Starship: What is Raptor 2?

It is a more powerful and modified version of the current Raptor engine. This engine was used on test flights with prototypes of the Starship, the latest of which, in May 2021, reached an altitude of 33,000 feet.

The spacecraft consists of two components:

The ship itself, also called the Starship. This is 160 feet long and includes the crew and cargo space. This is 230 feet long and paired with the spacecraft to enable it to leave Earth.

In total, the construction height is expected to be around 400 feet.

Both are powered by the Raptor engine. While the ship has six engines, Musk clarified in September 2019 that the booster engine can accommodate between 24 and 37 engines.

There are two different types of Raptor drive:

sea ​​level variable. A Super Heavy booster will use this variant, and three of the six engines on board will be sea level variants. Space-optimized variable vacuum. Three of the six engines on the ship will use this version.

SpaceX’s Raptor, with the sea level variable on the left and the vacuum variable on the right.

In May 2020, Musk indicated that the SLM variant has a thrust of about 200 tons, but there were plans to increase this over time to 250 tons.

Musk apparently confirmed that last week when he posted on Twitter:

“The current plan is to increase the base thrust of the raptor to approximately 230 tons or 500 million pounds and increase the number of booster motors to 32 or 33. All raptors on the booster, whether stationary or skewed, will be the same. 33*230 gets 7600 tons of thrust and T/W ~1.5″.

Musk also affirmed:

“The center motors on board will be the same as the boost motors. This is basically the Raptor 2. The Raptor Vacuum will be the only alternative. Tbd regarding unifying the R-Vac with the Raptor 2 (more thrust), keep it the same or tighten the throat (more ISP). Add 3 more R-Vac trips to charge with Max Isp maybe…”

So, in fact, this sequel is an engine that has a bit more thrust.

SpaceX Starship: What does Raptor 2 mean for Mars missions?

SpaceX’s website shows that the previous plan was for Super Heavy to offer a payment of £16 million. Musk’s comments indicate that this figure could be as high as 17 million pounds.

By comparison, the most powerful rocket ever was the Saturn V. It last flew in 1973, generating only 7.6 million pounds of thrust.

The company has kept things a little more opaque when it comes to payload capacity. Its website claims it can lift more than 100 metric tons into low Earth orbit. That may be an understatement: An April 2020 user guide, analyzed by YouTuber “Everyday Astronaut,” suggested the rocket could lift something closer to 156 metric tons into low Earth orbit.

At the time, Musk emphasized that this was indeed the long-term goal:

“The mass of the initial SN ships will be a little high and the Isp a little low, but over time they will be about 150 tons to LEO fully reusable.”

For Mars missions, the most important information could be that the “T/W” is 1.5. The thrust-to-weight ratio shows how thrust compares to the weight of the vehicle itself. Unlike an airplane that takes off horizontally, a rocket launched vertically needs thrust higher than its own weight. The greater the thrust of the weight, the greater the acceleration.

In January 2021, Musk clarified that a higher ratio is critical to a reusable vessel like the Starship:

T/W will be ~1.5, so it will accelerate at an unusual speed. A high T/W ratio is important for recycled vehicles in order to use propellant more efficiently, and is the primary cost. For consumable missiles, throwing stages is the primary cost, so optimization is low T/W.”

Sending more cargo at once is great, but for a reusable spacecraft, the ship needs to use fuel as efficiently as possible to get back home from Mars.

Raptor 2 could help enable SpaceX’s manned mission to Mars, expected sometime this decade.

Starship’s Journey, Briefed:

November 2018 – The BFR, first announced in September 2017, is renamed Starship. December 2018 – Musk confirms that the new vessel has been switched to stainless steel. January 2019 – The shortened “Starhopper” prototype is revealed and Musk explains the switch to steel. February 2019 – Raptor engine breaks record long in rockets. April 2019 – Starhopper completes a strapped “jump”. July 2019 – Starhopper launches 20 meters (67 ft) August 2019 – Starhopper launches 150 meters (500 ft) September 2019 – Starship Mk full-size prototype revealed. May 1, 2020 – SN4 spacecraft full-size prototype completed static test launch August 2020 – SN5 launched 150 meters (500 ft) October 2020 – SN8 completed its first static triple Raptor fire, December 2020 – SN8 launched 12.5 km (41,000 ft) and crashed into the ground, February 2021 – SN9 launched 10 km (33,000 ft) And crashes into the ground, March 2021 – SN10 launched 10 kilometers (33,000 feet), and exploded eight minutes later. In the same month, SN11 launched 10 km (33,000 ft) and hit the ground in several pieces, May 2021 – SN15 launched 10 km (33,000 ft) and landed unimpeded, save for a small fire at the base.

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