As part of the continued development of the Starship rocket, on September 19, 2022 SpaceX performed successfully a static test of seven of its Raptor engines in Booster 7. This is the largest number of this new type of engines that has been fired at the same time.
Many successful launches have been realized with the Marlin engines; which are the power of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Super Heavy rockets. The Rapton engines, however, are powered by Cryogenic liquid methane and liquid oxygen instead of RP-1 and liquid oxygen. These not only produce double the power the Marlin engines, but also work with a hydrocarbon that, according to NASA, can be synthesized in situ on Mars.
What is the significance of this successful test? SpaceX now can move Booster 7 back to high bay for robustness upgrades and move to the pad Booster 8 for further testing. In a few weeks, SpaceX expects to perform a full stack wet dress rehearsal, and then an incredible 33 engine firing. The orbital test is planned for the coming months.