Photo: SpaceX
SpaceX has completed its 200th Raptor 2 engine, as shared in a photo posted on Twitter on Friday.
The photo depicts the Raptor 2 engine, as well as a Monopoly-game-style “Go” arrow which includes the message, “Collect 200 raptors on your way to Mars.”
The Raptor 2 rocket engine design follows the Merlin Vacuum engine, and it’s set to help power the Super Heavy Boosters that will be used for the Starship reusable rocket.
Yesterday, SpaceX announced it had built its 200th Raptor 2 engine, plus also its 200th second stage vehicles for Falcon 9.
Each Super Heavy Booster is set to include 33 Raptor 2 engines which use both chilled liquid oxygen and chilled liquid methane to power Starship.
On early Thursday morning, SpaceX successfully launched and deployed the Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G satellite to orbit.
Deployment of Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G confirmed pic.twitter.com/gq1HiV6HLE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 3, 2022
The news comes as NASA seemingly plans for a Starship launch with the Super Heavy Booster in early December, after several delays to the launch of the orbital spacecraft.
SpaceX has been conducting full-stack tests with the Starship rocket ahead of the launch, most recently occurring last month.
Additionally, SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy booster for the first time since 2019 in a military satellite operation called USSF-44.
SpaceX is planning to launch its own Starlink satellites weekly in 2023, and it also has several contracts to launch satellites and payloads for other companies and organizations in the coming years.
One such contract is with the European Space Agency to launch rockets in both 2023 and 2024, so that the agency can bypass using Russia’s Soyuz rocket.
