SpaceX's Starship rocket completed its 14th test flight on Monday, reaching orbital velocity for the first time and deploying 26 next-generation Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. The 407-foot vehicle launched from Starbase in South Texas with 33 Raptor engines generating 18 million pounds of thrust, with its Super Heavy booster stage making a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
This article explains how SpaceX's Raptor engine works by progressively introducing engineering solutions to propulsion challenges, from simple compressed gas thrusters to fuel-burning engines with turbopumps that spin via gas generators. The piece traces the evolution across Raptor 1, 2, and 3 versions, illustrating how each design iteration solves specific problems in rocket propulsion efficiency and performance.