Late on Sunday, space travel enthusiasts were treated with multiple videos of SpaceX’s Raptor engine, which would be used in the space exploration firm’s Starship rocket to transport humans into Mars.
The visuals shared by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on his Twitter profile shows the rocket engine spewing fire in full force, causing mild earth shake.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2019
Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla (TSLA) said in the tweet, “First firing of Starship Raptor flight engine! So proud of great work by @SpaceX team!!”
In the days leading to the firing tests, Musk had shared with his followers, images of the engine from the facility near Brownsville, Texas.
In September last year, Elon Musk had said that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa had purchased all the tickets to a lunar Starship mission in 2023. The latest set of videos reveal that SpaceX is not procrastinating with its aim to become the first to take tourists to the moon, and eventually to Mars.
Preparing to fire the Starship Raptor engine at @SpaceX Texas pic.twitter.com/8JCOi1BG6z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2019
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In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX is looking to raise $500 million through funding, lifting the rocket company’s valuation to $30.5 billion. The report added that this funding would be raised from the company’s existing shareholders and Baillie Gifford & Co, Tesla’s third-largest shareholder.
Firing of a different kind
However, not everything looks so rosy at the Hawthorne, California-based company, which, last month fired 10% of its workforce in order to make it a “lean company.” Around 600 employees are expected to have been affected.