SpaceX sent the "Martian" engine to the test in Texas

Photo from the test of the booster oxygen pump, one of the elements of the Raptor engine (source: SpaceX)

Speaking at a conference on small satellites in Logan (Utah, USA), SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell told that the new generation Raptor engine was sent to the test site in MacGregor (Texas, USA). Raptor is a powerful engine for the next-generation rocket from SpaceX. Not so much technical details, but it is known that the power of the Raptor is about three times the power of the current Merlin engines used in the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. Earlier, Ilon Musk reported that this engine will develop traction up to 230 tons.

The cycle of operation of this engine consists of two stages. The first is the combustion of the fuel mixture (fuel and oxidizer) in the pre-combustion chambers. The second is the injection of fuel into the main engine combustion chamber due to the high-pressure hot gases produced during the first stage. According to Mask, such an engine is much more efficient than Merlin’s open-cycle engines. Liquid oxygen and methane will be used as a fuel here.

Engines with pre-combustion chambers were installed, in particular, in NASA's Shuttles. The Shuttle engines used hydrogen, which was stored in a chamber at -253 ° C. At the same time, the temperature in the combustion chamber reaches 3300 ° C, it is above the boiling point of iron. The disadvantage of hydrogen is the complexity of its storage at such a low temperature in the rocket chambers.
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The RS-25 engine is on trial. This engine was installed in "Shuttles"

Musk argues that "the cost of methane energy is the lowest, it has a specific impulse slightly higher than that of kerosene, and does not have a single lack of hydrogen." The structure of the new engine is more complicated than that of the Merlin. Accordingly, the technological process of creating such an engine will also be more complex. As a result - more expensive. A cluster of new-type engines will be installed in the MCT (Mars Colonial Transporter) - SpaceX's new-generation interplanetary transport system. The main part of this system is a reusable super heavy class booster. He has no official name yet, but now the carrier is designated by the acronym BFR (Big Facking Rocket, damn big rocket). In the first stage of the carrier will be 9 Raptor engines. The diameter of the rocket will be about 10 m. Apparently, this rocket will be larger and more powerful than the Saturn V. Now the new engine will be tested in field conditions. “Last night we sent Raptor to Texas,” said Gwynn Shotwell.

This is the first test of Raptor as a unified system. Previously tested its individual elements. In 2014, for example, SpaceX tested engine injectors and also tested a booster oxygen pump. From April to August 2015, 76 pump tests were conducted. The total test time was 400 seconds. Photo from the test shown in the announcement. Photos of the engine itself yet.


Comparing Falcon 9 v1.0, v.1.1 and MCT with 9 Raptor engines

SpaceX engineers plan to cool the fuel and oxygen in the engine chambers to a temperature close to the freezing point of these substances. According to experts, this will accommodate more fuel. Fuel is necessary both for take-off and for landing - it will be carried out with the help of engines, there will be no parachutes.

Musk promises to provide more details about the new rocket, new engines and plans for the colonization of Mars at the International Conference on Astronautics, which will be held this year in Guadalajara, Mexico, from September 26 to 30. On April 27, 2016, SpaceX announced plans for an unmanned Red Dragon ship launching on the surface of Mars in 2018. The ship will be launched using the Falcon Heavy rocket. The mission was named "Red Dragon".