SpaceX has finished the first test of its interplanetary Raptor engine - its CEO Elon Musk wishes to take people to Mars. Musk stated that the chamber pressure for the Raptor is about three times that of the Merlin engine and production goal is set to impulse 382 seconds and has a thrust of 3MN at 300 bars.
SpaceX first broadcast the Raptor in October 2012 when it said that its new engine would be more powerful than of its Merlin 1 series. Contrary the RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen-required Merlin engines to be used in SpaceX Falcon Vehicles. The Raptor uses a combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen for fuel.
SpaceX first announced the Raptor back in October 2012 when it said that the new engine would be several times more powerful than that of the Merlin 1 series. Unlike the RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen-propelled Merlin engines used in SpaceX Falcon vehicles, the Raptor uses a mixture of liquid methane and liquid oxygen for fuel.
The Raptor's intent to be a multi-stage engine will be robust enough to explore and potentially colonize Mars, but it will also be a low-cost mission due to its cost efficient parts and procedures. The engine was funded entirely by SpaceX, months prior to this year, the U.S Air Force contributed $34M to help develop the prototype of the upper stage.
Because the rocket uses methane, the chances of successfully implementing a Martian colonization are very high.
But more information could be unveiled during the Musk's awaited speech on Tuesday about his ideas of setting up an outpost on Mars within a decade. Musk is awaited to draft the plans for the engine, spaceship, and technologies necessary to take people to Mars at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico
The speech is entitled Making Humans a Multi-planetary Species. Musk says that the whole thing is "going to sound pretty crazy", so it remains vague at this stage as to how much of the talk will be inspirational as it's rooted in pipeline technologies.
