Raptor — a first-of-its-kind engine

Raptor is SpaceX's methane-and-oxygen engine that powers Starship — and it is the first full-flow staged-combustion (FFSC) rocket engine in history to reach production. The FFSC cycle, which routes all of the propellant through twin preburners for maximum efficiency and engine life, had been studied since the Soviet era but never operationalized by anyone, anywhere, until SpaceX did it.

Raptor runs at extreme chamber pressures — the latest Raptor 3 operates around 350 bar and produces roughly 280 tonnes of thrust while being radically simplified, with plumbing integrated into the engine itself to cut mass and cost. A single Super Heavy booster clusters 33 of them.

Choosing methane was itself forward-looking: it burns cleanly, is easier to handle than hydrogen, and could in principle be manufactured on Mars. Raptor is the beating heart of the most ambitious rocket program ever attempted.