Is SpaceX’s Raptor engine the king of rocket engines?

00:00 - Intro 02:55 - Basic physics of rocket engines 06:10 - Rocket engine cycles 20:30 - Rocket fuel comparison 30:40 - Raptor vs other rocket engines 44:05 - Summary Article version - SpaceX’s new raptor engine is a methane fueled full flow staged combustion cycle engine and its so hard to develop, no engine like this has ever flown before! Now this topic can be really intimidating so in order to bring the Raptor engine into context, we’re going to do an overview of a few common types of rocket engine cycles then compare the Raptor to a few other common rocket engines, like SpaceX’s current work horse, the Merlin, The Space Shuttle’s RS-25, the RD-180, Blue Origin’s BE-4 and the F-1 engine. And if that’s not enough, not only is SpaceX using a crazy engine cycle, they’re also going to be using Liquid Methane as their fuel, again something that no orbital rocket has ever used! So we’ll also go over the unique characteristics of liquid methane as a roc