The amount of work required to simplify the Raptor engine, internalize secondary flow paths and add regenerative cooling for exposed components was staggering.
As a result Raptor 3 doesn’t require any heat shield, eliminating heat shield mass & complexity, as well as the fire suppression system.
It is also lighter, has more thrust and has higher efficiency than Raptor 2.
So pretty! Any higher resolution pictures out there yet?
The highest resolution available would be the
?format=jpg&name=origphoto from the original tweet:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GUBYMb0WsAAurC9?format=jpg&name=orig
Not sure if this resolution is any higher than the one already posted.
Also some interesting followup info: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1819597689283121225