News
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shows off Starship’s 3 Raptor engines in best photos yet
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to publish yet more photos of the company’s Starship Mk1 rocket prototype, this time posting what are – by far – the best official photos of Raptor engines yet taken.
This marks the first time that a SpaceX prototype of any kind has had more than one Raptor engine installed, a fairly symbolic but still significant milestone that follows in the footsteps of Starhopper’s successful single-engine flight test campaign. With Starhopper now heading into retirement, Starship Mk1 is preparing to support the program’s next major steps: full-scale, high-altitude flight tests powered by three Raptor engines.
The sight of three Raptor engines installed on the first true Starship prototype is undeniably hard to downplay. In barely seven months, SpaceX has gone from the very first static fire of a full-scale Raptor engine – serial number 01 – to flight-testing Raptor SN06 and producing enough engines to bestow Starship Mk1 with its own set of three engines. According to the latest comments from Elon Musk, Starship is meant to be powered by three ‘sea level’ Raptors and three vacuum-optimized Raptors – RVacs. RVac may or may not be ready to support the flight tests of early prototypes like Mk1 and Mk2, meaning that their three SL engines will likely be the sole propulsion for the time being.
Together, three SL Raptors operating at full thrust should be capable of producing up to 600 tons (1.3M lbf) of thrust. Per Musk’s note that Starship Mk1 likely weighs around 200 tons (~450,000 lb) empty, this means that a triple-engined Starship will be able to lift off with up to 400 tons (900,000 lb) of propellant, likely translating into roughly 200-300 seconds of untethered triple-engine operation.
“NOT FOR FLIGHT”
However, the engine installation milestone and subsequent photos are undeniably spectacular, but signs suggest that some level of pragmatism is in order. Visible in two of the three photos published by Musk, all three Raptors still have their transport rings installed just below each engine’s throat. Hardware at the base of one photo indicates that they were likely taken yesterday, on the evening of September 25th. Musk revealed that the three Raptors were installed late on September 22nd, up to three days prior.
Combined, the presence of the transport rings – “NOT FOR FLIGHT”, as their labels note – is a strong indicator that their installation is only temporary, likely in support of Elon Musk’s imminent September 28th Starship presentation. Without more information, it’s impossible to read much further into the temporary installation of Raptors. What it does confirm is that – for any number of reasons – flight-ready Raptors are not quite ready to support the Starship Mk1/Mk2. SpaceX has proven that Raptor is capable of supporting Starhopper for almost a full minute of powered flight, but behaviors observed near the end of that flight suggest that even that may have been pushing the engine’s limits.
All things considered, SpaceX is making progress at an almost unfathomable pace. Just seven months into full-scale Raptor test fires, it’s easy to believe that a lot of development work and refinement remains before the new engine family will be ready to reliably support multi-minute flight tests, let alone orbital launch attempts. Most orbital-class engine development programs aim for tens or even hundreds of thousands of seconds of test fires before attempting their first flights, but SpaceX is not most companies and is sticking closely to its preferred “test as you fly” methods and agile development strategies.
Check out Teslarati’s Marketplace! We offer Tesla accessories, including for the Tesla Cybertruck and Tesla Model 3.
Featured
Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.
Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.
Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.
Tesla has received its Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority says that operations are limited to a maximum fleet of 10 fully autonomous vehicles and shall be conducted only within the Authority-approved Operational Design… https://t.co/Cxfd6GIfDk pic.twitter.com/iOO6wSZkHF
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2026
The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.
Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.
Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
