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They are currently developing a larger engine, Raptor, which is intended for their Mars project and possibly for an upper stage for the Falcon family. But it's
by rst 11y ago
They are currently developing a larger engine, Raptor, which is intended for their Mars project and possibly for an upper stage for the Falcon family. But it's not a plug-and-play replacement for the Russian RD-180. (Nor is Blue Origin's BE-4, which is what ULA currently plans to use to effectively replace the RD-180 -- but only by building a substantially new Rocket, the Vulcan, around the BE-4, to replace their current Atlas V.)
BTW, as others have noted, "heavy lift" is more often used to characterize whole rockets than individual engines -- and the current American leader in that category (until SpaceX finally launches Falcon Heavy) is the Delta IV heavy, powered by three RS-68s, each of which nearly matches the thrust of an RD-180. (And yet isn't a drop-in replacement for numerous reasons, starting with use of different fuels.)
- VeilEm 11y ago> which is intended for their Mars project Space X is a for profit company right? What's the profit incentive of going to Mars? A marketing ploy? Does SpaceX not have any investors besides Elon Musk to answer to about spending?
- btilly 11y agoElon has done back of the envelope calculations and believes that Mars colonization can be profitable at a cost of around a half-million per ticket, with a free return for anyone who decides they want out. At that price point, moving to Mars is something you can fund by selling your house. If enough people want to do it, he could make a lot of money that way. In addition to going down in history. If he is wrong, well, it is his money. And every step along the way to building that capacity can be justified by ventures that are making money now.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoIf you invest $5K USD each year in an equities-heavy index fund, with compound interest and average market returns, you'll have your Mars ticket in ~25 years. Additional funds invested each year speed that up.
- lutorm 11y agoIt's a privately held for-profit company. Who knows what the owners want...
- gozur88 11y agoActually, since Musk owns half of it we can get a pretty good idea.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoSpaceX is structured as a for-profit company, but the entire reason it exists is the Mars project, and Elon's vision of making humans a multiplanetary species.