{"id":23759,"date":"2025-07-29T00:35:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T16:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/mystery-raptors-spotted-arriving-at-mcgregor\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:02:43","slug":"mystery-raptors-spotted-arriving-at-mcgregor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/mystery-raptors-spotted-arriving-at-mcgregor\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Raptors spotted arriving at McGregor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A curious delivery caught the eyes of NSF\u2019s cameras at SpaceX\u2019s McGregor test site in Texas: three battered and heavily damaged Raptor engines, potentially from either the aft of recently recovered Booster 13, or the debris of Ship 36, which blew up during testing at Masseys.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Wrecked Rocket Engines Spotted at SpaceX McGregor! What Is SpaceX Up To?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6nhKAxMFhaQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s McGregor facility is the beating heart of the company\u2019s engine testing program, where nearly every Merlin and Raptor engine is put through its paces before flight. NSF operates a 24\/7 livestream of the site, and over the years, it\u2019s become a window into SpaceX\u2019s engine development and production cadence. But this latest sighting was unusual.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"795\" data-end=\"1070\">Following a recent camera repositioning to monitor new test stands, NSF\u2019s began noticing a steady stream of hardware\u2014Merlin and Raptor engines, Falcon 9 stages, and more\u2014rolling through the roads of McGregor. Among those, three wrecked Raptor engines raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1072\" data-end=\"1430\">These engines weren\u2019t just scorched. They appeared seriously deformed\u2014more so than any we\u2019ve seen in recent booster recoveries. Initially, many suspected they may have come from Booster 13, which flew Starship\u2019s sixth test flight before ditching into the Gulf of Mexico. That booster was recovered and recently delivered to SpaceX\u2019s Massey site for analysis.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1432\" data-end=\"1784\">Jack Beyer of NSF captured photos of the Booster 13 aft section shortly after arrival at Massey, showing most of the Raptor engines still intact\u2014if waterlogged.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-108240 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2459\" height=\"1581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked.jpg 2459w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked-350x225.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked-544x350.jpg 544w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked-768x494.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked-1920x1234.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-04-11-12-410-wmarked-1170x752.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2459px) 100vw, 2459px\"><\/p>\n<p>Astronomy<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>NASA educational resources<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space Shuttle models<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1432\" data-end=\"1784\">\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>SpaceX Starship Program<\/li>\n<li>L2 SpaceX Section<\/li>\n<li>NSF Store<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The engines showed signs of corrosion and discoloration, particularly a greenish-blue hue inside the nozzles, likely caused by prolonged saltwater exposure and reactions with the copper liner.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1786\" data-end=\"2075\">But the engines delivered to McGregor lacked this telltale color. Instead, they looked severely scorched and physically crushed\u2014indicating heat and impact damage, not just corrosion. In fact, even the worst-looking nozzle on Booster 13 still appears to be in better shape than these three.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2322\">More recent images of Booster 13 confirm that most of its engines remain attached, particularly those nearer to the bottom of the vehicle, which appear to be in relatively good shape. So if not Booster 13, then where did these Raptors come from?<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2324\" data-end=\"2355\">Another candidate: Ship 36<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2357\" data-end=\"2653\">A few weeks ago, Ship 36 suffered a catastrophic explosion during testing at the Massey site. The blast obliterated much of the vehicle, including its engines. SpaceX responded quickly, clearing debris and beginning repairs to Massey, including upgrades to prevent similar failures in the future.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Starship 36 Explodes During Flight 10 Testing at Starbase\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/71AwkBt3_ts?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2655\" data-end=\"2870\">If these engines were from Ship 36, it would explain their severely burnt appearance and structural damage. It\u2019s plausible they were recovered during the Massey site cleanup and then sent to McGregor for inspection.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2872\" data-end=\"3196\">Why send them to McGregor at all? The test site isn\u2019t just for firing engines\u2014it\u2019s also where SpaceX dissects, analyzes, and learns from them. The engineering teams in McGregor are intimately familiar with Raptor hardware, and they\u2019re well-equipped to assess post-failure components for design insights and failure analysis.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2872\" data-end=\"3196\">Ready for Scrapping?<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"3198\" data-end=\"3504\">Alternatively, they could simply be bound for scrap. McGregor has an engine graveyard of sorts\u2014an area filled with old, retired Falcon and Starship hardware, visible in aerial photos by NSF contributor Gary Blair, who has been providing regular flyover photos of the test for years in NSF L2.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-108238\" class=\"size-full wp-image-108238\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2060\" height=\"1131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked.jpg 2060w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked-350x192.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked-630x346.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked-768x422.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked-1920x1054.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NSF-2025-07-29-03-52-36-955-wmarked-1170x642.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2060px) 100vw, 2060px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-108238\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Engine collection at SpaceX McGregor via Gary Blair for NSF.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3198\" data-end=\"3504\">Previous recoveries, such as the aft section of Booster 11, have ended up there as well.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3506\" data-end=\"3792\">Ultimately, whether these engines are from Ship 36, Booster 13, or another mystery vehicle, one thing\u2019s clear: even damaged Raptors can still offer SpaceX valuable lessons. And for keen-eyed NSF viewers, every new delivery is a potential clue in SpaceX\u2019s fast-moving development puzzle.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3506\" data-end=\"3792\"><em>Report by Sawyer Rosenstein for NSF\u2019s BREAKINGSpace. Written by Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera. Lead image: NSF\u2019s McGregor Live.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"McGregor Live: 24\/7 SpaceX Engine Testing &amp; Development for Starship and Falcon 9 Rockets\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cOmmvhDQ2HM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid2\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A curious delivery caught the eyes of NSF\u2019s cameras at SpaceX\u2019s McGregor test site in Texas: three battered and heavily damaged Raptor engines, potentially from either the aft of recently recovered Booster 13, or the debris of Ship 36, which blew up during testing at Masseys. SpaceX\u2019s McGregor facility is the beating heart of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2093,597,316,317],"class_list":["post-23759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-mcgregor","tag-raptor","tag-spacex","tag-starship"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32823,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23759\/revisions\/32823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}