🚀 🇺🇸 Recently, SpaceX revealed pictures and specifications of Raptor 3, which is slated to replace the current Raptor 2 on current vehicles. This engine is far more refined, with much of the external plumbing moved internally or removed altogether. A lot of the internal plumbing is regenerative cooling channels built into the engine’s case.

📝 Object Zero: This engine is the greatest rocket engine ever built, BECAUSE they got rid of all the electronics and software. Fluid management system. Nope. The shape of the pipes is the fluid management. All of Mech Eng is full of similar opportunities. To my eye, I still see the unfinished business on Raptor 3, for example I expect Raptor 4 will not have any bolted flanges and I expect the entire upper assembly will already be undergoing another major version iteration. The lower assembly illustrates a tremendous grip of the requirements.

📝 SpaceX Anon: It really is something, benefits of vertical integration. Generally engineers find themselves in the position of having to juggle the costs of having a bespoke part made by a subcontractor vs off the shelf solutions. SpaceX makes just about everything so they have more options. So now thay they know exactly what Raptor needs to do, they can min max a totally purpose built assembly. Also this is only possible because it is a private company. A board of shareholders would shit a brick at all the losses SpaceX has had to absorb over the years due to the high risk of actually owning the entire process start to finish. I'm lucky that my statement of work is only to design, if its something that can just be bought they dont waste a design engineers salary on it. But by contrast my friend who is a test engineer at [redacted] gets blocked anytime he tries to design something for a tester, they just force him to cludge together off the shelf parts.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/08/flight-5-6-preparations-raptor-3/

📎 Object Zero