SpaceX Next-Gen Raptor Rocket Engine And Starship Are About To Meet In Texas

You might have heard about NASA and SpaceX’s successful uncrewed flight of the Crew Dragon to the ISS. But the company of Elon Musk is having more plans for Mars and the moon.

The Raptor rocket engine of SpaceX just arrived in Texas, the very same location where the Starship prototype is also located.

Mary, a Texas resident, has been logging the activities around Boca Chica Village launch site of SpaceX. On Monday, she took a picture of the Raptor engine and posted on the discussion forum NASASpaceFlight.com.

Last week, Musk gave us a sneak peek about the arrival of the engine, saying the hardware was about to meet the “hopper” ship, which will later be used for takeoffs and landings testing.

Sometime this week, the Raptor is expected to be mounted onto Starship.

The Brownsville Herald reports that the engine’s short static fire will be tested first and the public won’t be able to see these tests.

On NASASpaceFlight.com, some pictures of the hopper with its stretch out nose cone section removed appeared, indicating that the nose may not be included in the first tests. Back in January, fierce winds fractured the Starship’s top section.

Starship is designed for its pair up with the Super Heavy rocker of SpaceX which is still being developed. According to Musk, the rocket could utilize the maximum number of 31 Raptor engines. However, in the initial flight tests, fewer engines would be used in the event of an explosion. The Starship itself can take in seven Raptor engines.

In February, Musk shared video footage showing a Raptor test firing, saying that the engine had got the needed power level for Starship as well as Super Heavy. The combination of Starship and Super Heavy is what SpaceX hopes to use for space tourism as early as 2023.