Musk praises “cool” designs for Russian rocket engines (but insists the hardest part is manufacturing)

Posted:

4 before 2021 19:27 GMT

The SpaceX founder indicated that he intends to dispel the misconception that the most difficult thing in creating a rocket engine is its design.

Elon Musk becomes a tour guide in a new video for An astronaut every day, a spaceflight news service, features the SpaceX Starbase plant in Texas, USA.

The founder of the airline spoke about the preparations needed to send the giant Starship rocket on its first orbital test flight. Currently, SpaceX experts at Starbase are working on building the Super Heavy, a process that involves installing 29 Raptor engines.

During the interview, Musk indicated that he intends to dispel the misconception that the most difficult thing in creating a rocket engine is its design. In fact, The biggest challenge now is the manufacturing itself engines and reduce the costs of this process, according to the businessman.

“Humanity can become a species living on several planets if we can reduce the cost of sending a ton of thrust into orbit,” said the director of SpaceX and Tesla.

In this regard, Musk mentioned the influence of Russian rocket engine designs on the development of liquid oxygen and methane Raptor engines. Recognizing that Russian engineers have created hundreds of engine designs, the billionaire emphasized that the design part is still not the most difficult.

“I spend a lot of time studying Russian rocket engine design. There are some great designs for Russian engines. They’ve been producing liquid-propellant rocket engines for a long time and They have literally created hundreds of different designsSpaceX founder said.

In this regard, Musk believes that, compared to what Russian engineers have already done, the Raptor engine has not been significantly improved.

“Our engine is more compact than before and has a complete gasification of the combustion components. But these are relatively small improvements from what the Russians have already achieved,” said the businessman.

In conclusion, the billionaire once again insisted on the importance of reducing the cost of production of the engine, adding that his goal is to reduce this amount for the Raptor to 1000 dollars per ton of payment.