Yesterday somebody posted a distant photo of a hanger at McGregor with a Raptor visible on a flatbed outside and another raptor barely visible through the door.
A SpaceX employee who works at McGregor commented that there are lots of Raptors in there, and hoped that SpaceX would authorize release of a photo.
And today, Elon posted the photo below:
It appears that they are collecting engines for the first orbital attempt. The Superheavy for that flight will have 29 engines (20 fixed R-boost and 9 steerable R-center), while the second-stage Starship will have six (three steerable R-center and three R-vac vacuum Raptors designed for use in space).
Unclear if this photo was taken at McGregor or at Starbase. (Appears to have been taken in a tent structure and Elon's been spending much of his time in Starbase.) Multiple engines have been arriving at Starbase every day for some days now. There are increasing numbers of engines in Hawthorne where they are moving into mass production, in McGregor where each one is tested on the test stands, and at Starbase.
There's also word (verified by Elon) that they are building a new Raptor production line in McGregor so they will be manufacturing them there as well as in Hawthorne.
And a mysterious big cylindrical thing wrapped in blue, atop an SPMT
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vy1OPxwCIKo
A SpaceX employee who works at McGregor commented that there are lots of Raptors in there, and hoped that SpaceX would authorize release of a photo.
And today, Elon posted the photo below:
It appears that they are collecting engines for the first orbital attempt. The Superheavy for that flight will have 29 engines (20 fixed R-boost and 9 steerable R-center), while the second-stage Starship will have six (three steerable R-center and three R-vac vacuum Raptors designed for use in space).
Unclear if this photo was taken at McGregor or at Starbase. (Appears to have been taken in a tent structure and Elon's been spending much of his time in Starbase.) Multiple engines have been arriving at Starbase every day for some days now. There are increasing numbers of engines in Hawthorne where they are moving into mass production, in McGregor where each one is tested on the test stands, and at Starbase.
There's also word (verified by Elon) that they are building a new Raptor production line in McGregor so they will be manufacturing them there as well as in Hawthorne.
And a mysterious big cylindrical thing wrapped in blue, atop an SPMT