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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reveals photos of Starship’s first completed Raptor engine

CEO Elon Musk revealed the first official photos of SpaceX's finalized Raptor engine, set to support Starship hop tests and early BFR launches. (SpaceX)

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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.

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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).

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.

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A gif of Raptor throttling over the course of a 90+ second static-fire test in McGregor, Texas. (SpaceX)

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.


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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX weighs Nasdaq listing as company explores early index entry: report

The company is reportedly seeking early inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly leaning toward listing its shares on the Nasdaq for a potential initial public offering (IPO) that could become the largest in history. 

As per a recent report, the company is reportedly seeking early inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index. The update was reported by Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the publication, SpaceX is considering Nasdaq as the venue for its eventual IPO, though the New York Stock Exchange is also competing for the listing. Neither exchange has reportedly been informed of a final decision.

Reuters has previously reported that SpaceX could pursue an IPO as early as June, though the company’s plans could still change.

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One of the publication’s sources also suggested that SpaceX is targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion for its IPO. At that level, the company would rank among the largest publicly traded firms in the United States by market capitalization.

Nasdaq has proposed a rule change that could accelerate the inclusion of newly listed megacap companies into the Nasdaq-100 index.

Under the proposed “Fast Entry” rule, a newly listed company could qualify for the index in less than a month if its market capitalization ranks among the top 40 companies already included in the Nasdaq-100.

If SpaceX is successful in achieving its target valuation of $1.75 trillion, it would become the sixth-largest company by market value in the United States, at least based on recent share prices. 

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Newly listed companies typically have to wait up to a year before becoming eligible for major indexes such as the Nasdaq-100 or S&P 500.

Inclusion in a major index can significantly broaden a company’s shareholder base because many institutional investors purchase shares through index-tracking funds.

According to Reuters, Nasdaq’s proposed fast-track rule is partly intended to attract highly valued private companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic to list on the exchange.

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The Boring Company’s Prufrock-2 emerges after completing new Vegas Loop tunnel

The new tunnel measures 2.28 miles, making it the company’s longest single Vegas Loop tunnel to date.

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Credit: The Boring Company/X

The Boring Company announced that its Prufrock-2 tunnel boring machine (TBM) has completed another Vegas Loop tunnel in Las Vegas. The company shared the update in a post on social media platform X.

According to The Boring Company’s post, the new tunnel measures 2.28 miles, making it the company’s longest single Vegas Loop tunnel to date.

The new tunnel marks the fourth tunnel constructed near Westgate Las Vegas as the Vegas Loop network continues expanding across the city.

The Boring Company also noted that the new tunnel surpassed its previous internal record of 2.26 miles for a single Vegas Loop segment.

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Construction of the tunnel involved moving roughly 68,000 cubic yards of dirt. The excavation process also used about 4.8 miles of continuous conveyor belt, powered by six motors totaling 825 horsepower.

The Boring Company’s Prufrock-series all-electric tunnel boring machines are designed to support the rapid expansion of company’s underground transportation projects, including the growing Vegas Loop network. Prufrock machines are designed for reusability, thanks in no small part to their capability to be deployed and retrieved easily through their “porposing” feature.

The Vegas Loop, specifically the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop segment, has already been used during major events. Most recently, the LVCC Loop supported the 2026 CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show, which was held from March 3-7, 2026. 

As per The Boring Company, the LVCC Loop transported roughly 82,000 passengers across the convention center campus during the event’s duration. 

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CONEXPO-CON/AGG is one of the largest construction trade shows in North America, drawing more than 140,000 construction professionals from 128 countries this year.

The LVCC Loop forms the initial segment of the broader Vegas Loop network, which remains under active development as The Boring Company continues building new tunnels throughout the city.

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Tesla gathers Cybercab fleet in Gigafactory Texas

Images and video of the Cybercab fleet were shared by longtime Giga Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer in posts on social media platform X.

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Credit: Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/X

Tesla appears to be assembling a growing number of Cybercabs at Gigafactory Texas as preparations continue for the vehicle’s mass production. Recent footage shared online has shown over 30 Cybercabs being transported by trucks or staged near testing areas at the facility.

The images and video were shared by longtime Giga Texas observer and drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer in posts on social media platform X.

Interestingly enough, Tegtmeyer noted that many of the Cybercabs being loaded onto transport trucks were still equipped with steering wheels. This suggests that the vehicles are likely testing units rather than the final driverless configuration expected for the company’s Robotaxi service.

The vehicles could potentially be headed to testing sites across the United States as Tesla prepares to expand its Robotaxi fleet.

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Additional footage captured at Gigafactory Texas also showed the Cybercab’s side and rear camera washer system operating as vehicles were being loaded onto transport trucks.

The growing number of Cybercabs at Giga Texas comes amidst the company’s announcement that the first production Cybercab has been produced at the facility. Full Cybercab production is expected to begin in April.

The vehicle is expected to play a central role in Tesla’s Robotaxi ambitions as the company looks to expand autonomous ride-hailing operations beyond its early deployments using Model Y vehicles.

Tesla has also linked Cybercab production to its proposed Unboxed manufacturing process, which assembles large vehicle modules separately before integrating them. The approach is intended to reduce production costs and accelerate output.

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Musk has also noted that the Cybercab’s ramp will likely begin slowly due to the number of new components and manufacturing steps involved. However, he stated that once the process matures, Cybercab production could scale quickly.

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