SpaceX was rumored to be near bankruptcy, but the recent video shared by the company’s CEO, Elon Musk on Friday showed something else. The video exhibited the giant Starship flexing the steering system for its engines, a sign its development may be back on track.
The video is a short clip that depicts its Starship’s nine Raptor engines moving in a circular, dance-like choreography. In a threaded reply, Musk stated that the engines Starship will need to begin taking cargo, passengers, and more to the Moon.
“Each Raptor 1 engine above produces 185 metric tons of force,” Musk tweeted. “Raptor 2 just started production and will do 230+ tons or over half a million pounds of force.”
It was reported on Space.com that each Starship will require several Raptors. Every one of them will need 33 for the giant first-stage booster, called Super Heavy, as well as six more for the upper-stage Starship that the Super Heavy will carry into orbit. Through these various engines, SpaceX hopes to produce more than 1,000 of the ships to eventually colonize Mars.
Last month, there was an email leaked by Musk that spoke of the impending bankruptcy of SpaceX due to the slowed production. Musk said in the email that SpaceX will need to achieve a Starship launch rate of one launch every two weeks in the next year so the financial calamities may be avoided.
This new tweet by Elon Musk did not reveal any information about the financial update or the launch details of the Starships. It is thought that the video could be a reassurance to the stakeholders that everything is going smoothly or maybe it is just because the company does not want to spread panic about the financial future of the company.