(cont'd from yesterday's post)
While currently using version #2 of the Raptor engine on Starship tests, the third is in testing phase, and SpaceX is already working on version #4. Innovation does not stop.
If you're interested in the engineering, go here for the strategies they use in the design of Raptor 3. Here's Elon Musk himself explaining Raptor design elements:
Innovation doesn't stop, and neither does testing. As Elon puts it, "Oh we blew a lot of engines up." To keep up that pace, he says "A high production rate cures many ills. If you have a high production rate, you can have a lot of iterations. You can try lots of different things." You can risk failing because you have a lot more engines in the pipeline.
Five years ago, Jim Bridenstine of NASA put his finger on this distinctive of SpaceX: "SpaceX has something NASA has been lacking, a willingness to fail." They fly, test, fail, fix -- over and over again.
It's still that way at SpaceX.
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