There has been a static fire of a Superheavy for the first time.
[Update a couple minutes later]
A discussion of the differences between Raptor 1 and Raptor 2. Visually, I’m impressed by the apparent reduction in hardware and complexity of the power head.
I’m impressed by the apparent reduction in hardware and complexity of the power head.
Welds vs nuts & bolts had been mentioned previously by Mr. Musk in one of Mr. Dodd’s videos I believe.
It was funny when Musk corrected EA on one of his numbers for Russian engines.
From the article, the goal is $1000 per ton of thrust, meaning a 250 ton thrust engine would cost $250,000. That’s an astonishing number in an era where rocket engines often cost many million dollars.
I think an RS-25 SSME is somewhere in the range of $500K to $1 million per ton. Wisely, NASA replaced it with the RS-25E, which is still $500K to $1 million per ton, but expendable.
This remains one of the most depressing details of our current space program.
A blast from the past; thank God for Space-X:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X7GStEo6_50
NASA had their chance 20yrs before Space-X was on the scene and blew it.
The single-engine B7 test yesterday was certainly the first static-fire of a Super Heavy in quite awhile, but the not the first ever. B3 was static-fired over a year ago.
I guess the main point is, the outer ring of engines is lit by equipment on the orbital launch mount. The center engines are lit (and relit) by igniters built into the engines.