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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reveals photos of Starship’s first completed Raptor engine
Shortly after Teslarati reported that the first operationalized Raptor had shipped to McGregor, Texas for its first full-scale static fire tests, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to post the first official photos of the “radically redesigned” engine preparing for its critical debut test fire in Texas.
Designed with extreme reliability, efficiency, and reusability in mind, the Raptor seen in Musk’s photos is rated for just shy of 2.5 times the thrust of Merlin 1D at 200 tons (450,000 lbf) and has been commonized across both stages of BFR (Starship and Super Heavy) to spread out development costs and speed up the next-generation rocket’s orbital launch debut.
Preparing to fire the Starship Raptor engine at @SpaceX Texas pic.twitter.com/8JCOi1BG6z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2019
Aside from revealing some impressive photos of the first upgraded Raptor preparing for a static fire test, Musk went into a bit more detail on the future of the engine and its probable development path, describing Raptor in its current iteration as a sort of compromise between achieving nominal performance and minimizing the cost and timescale to arrive at a flight-ready engine. Currently stationed at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas development and testing facilities, Raptor appears to feature an expansion ratio somewhere in between Merlin 1D (optimized for sea-level) and MVac (optimized for vacuum).
Initially making one 200 metric ton thrust engine common across ship & booster to reach the moon as fast as possible. Next versions will split to vacuum-optimized (380+ sec Isp) & sea-level thrust optimized (~250 ton).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2019
This increases the stress on the nozzle during ignition and operation at normal atmospheric pressures but it also improves engine efficiency once Starship (or Super Heavy) rises above the thickest parts of Earth’s atmosphere, even if a medium-expansion nozzle still can’t touch the performance of a giant vacuum-optimized bell like those used by MVac. As such, BFR in its earliest iterations will be significantly less capable than a fully-optimized version of the rocket when it comes to high-energy Earth/lunar orbits and interplanetary trajectories, a challenge that can at least initially be hurdled by accepting much lower nominal payload capabilities and relying on brute-force performance, much like Falcon 9 and Heavy.
Assuming the first hot-fire tests of the full-scale, operationalized Raptors go well, three of the next-gen engines could support the first hop tests of a full-scale Starship prototype sometime in the next few months, potentially as early as late-February or March. Musk also reiterated that Starship’s complimentary booster – known as Super Heavy and set to begin initial prototype assembly as early as April – will feature 31 Raptor engines capable of producing upwards of 12.4 million pounds of thrust (62,000 kN) at liftoff. However, Musk indicated that the sheer value of 31 advanced Raptor engines also means that the first Super Heavy flights may only feature a partial complement of engines in case the vast booster experiences a failure, far from uncommon during the first few launches of a new rocket.
Tesla has given its biggest hint that Full Self-Driving in Europe is imminent, as a new feature seems to show that the company is preparing for frequent border crossings.
Tesla owner and influencer BLKMDL3, also known as Zack, recently took his Tesla to the border of California and Mexico at Tijuana, and at the international crossing, Full Self-Driving showed an interesting message: “Upcoming country border — FSD (Supervised) will become unavailable.”
FSD now shows a new message when approaching an international border crossing.
Stayed engaged the whole way as we crossed the border and worked great in Mexico! pic.twitter.com/bDzyLnyq0g
— Zack (@BLKMDL3) January 26, 2026
Due to regulatory approvals, once a Tesla operating on Full Self-Driving enters a new country, it is required to comply with the laws and regulations that are applicable to that territory. Even if legal, it seems Tesla will shut off FSD temporarily, confirming it is in a location where operation is approved.
This is something that will be extremely important in Europe, as crossing borders there is like crossing states in the U.S.; it’s pretty frequent compared to life in America, Canada, and Mexico.
Tesla has been working to get FSD approved in Europe for several years, and it has been getting close to being able to offer it to owners on the continent. However, it is still working through a lot of the red tape that is necessary for European regulators to approve use of the system on their continent.
This feature seems to be one that would be extremely useful in Europe, considering the fact that crossing borders into other countries is much more frequent than here in the U.S., and would cater to an area where approvals would differ.
Tesla has been testing FSD in Spain, France, England, and other European countries, and plans to continue expanding this effort. European owners have been fighting for a very long time to utilize the functionality, but the red tape has been the biggest bottleneck in the process.
Tesla Europe builds momentum with expanding FSD demos and regional launches
Tesla operates Full Self-Driving in the United States, China, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship V3 gets launch date update from Elon Musk
The first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.
Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s next Starship launch, Flight 12, is expected in about six weeks. This suggests that the first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.
In a post on X, Elon Musk stated that the next Starship launch is in six weeks. He accompanied his announcement with a photo that seemed to have been taken when Starship’s upper stage was just about to separate from the Super Heavy Booster. Musk did not state whether SpaceX will attempt to catch the Super Heavy Booster during the upcoming flight.
The upcoming flight will mark the debut of Starship V3. The upgraded design includes the new Raptor V3 engine, which is expected to have nearly twice the thrust of the original Raptor 1, at a fraction of the cost and with significantly reduced weight. The Starship V3 platform is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability.
The Starship V3 Flight 12 launch timeline comes as SpaceX pursues an aggressive development cadence for the fully reusable launch system. Previous iterations of Starship have racked up a mixed but notable string of test flights, including multiple integrated flight tests in 2025.
Interestingly enough, SpaceX has teased an aggressive timeframe for Starship V3’s first flight. Way back in late November, SpaceX noted on X that it will be aiming to launch Starship V3’s maiden flight in the first quarter of 2026. This was despite setbacks like a structural anomaly on the first V3 booster during ground testing.
“Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026,” the company wrote in its post on X.
News
Tesla China rolls out Model 3 insurance subsidy through February
Eligible customers purchasing a Model 3 by February 28 can receive an insurance subsidy worth RMB 8,000 (about $1,150).
Tesla has rolled out a new insurance subsidy for Model 3 buyers in China, adding another incentive as the automaker steps up promotions in the world’s largest electric vehicle market.
Eligible customers purchasing a Model 3 by February 28 can receive an insurance subsidy worth RMB 8,000 (about $1,150).
A limited-time subsidy
The insurance subsidy, which was announced by Tesla China on Weibo, applies to the Model 3 RWD, Long Range RWD, and Long Range AWD variants. Tesla stated that the offer is available to buyers who complete their purchase on or before February 28, as noted in a CNEV Post report. The starting prices for these variants are RMB 235,500, RMB 259,500, and RMB 285,500, respectively.
The Tesla Model 3 Performance, which starts at RMB 339,500, is excluded from the subsidy. The company has previously used insurance incentives at the beginning of the year to address softer seasonal demand in China’s auto market. The program is typically phased out as sales conditions stabilize over the year.
China’s electric vehicle market
The insurance subsidy followed Tesla’s launch of a 7-year low-interest financing plan in China on January 6, which is aimed at improving vehicle affordability amid changing policy conditions. After Tesla introduced the financing program, several automakers, such as Xiaomi, Li Auto, Xpeng, and Voyah, introduced similar long-term financing options.
China’s electric vehicle market has faced additional headwinds entering 2026. Buyers of new energy vehicles are now subject to a 5% purchase tax, compared with the previous full exemption. At the same time, vehicle trade-in subsidies in several cities are expected to expire in mid-November.
Tesla’s overall sales in China declined in 2025, with deliveries totaling 625,698 vehicles, down 4.78% year-over-year. Model 3 deliveries increased 13.33% to 200,361 units, while Model Y deliveries, which were hampered by the changeover to the new Model Y in the first quarter, fell 11.45% to 425,337 units.
Tesla gives its biggest hint that Full Self-Driving in Europe is imminent
SpaceX Starship V3 gets launch date update from Elon Musk
