SpaceX Could Begin Testing Methane-fueled Engine at Stennis Next Year

摘要

Leveraging a $1.1 million incentive from NASA and the Mississippi Development Agency, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) plans to begin testing components of a methane-fueled engine called Raptor at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi early next year. Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX will perform these tests at Stennis' E-2 test facility, which will require an upgrade to accommodate the full Raptor engine - a closed-loop methane-oxygen concept SpaceX is working on for missions to deep space. The upgrades would be funded by SpaceX, NASA and the Mississippi Development Authority.