Interesting how much less "stuff" hanging off it there is, I imagine the incentives are to add complexity so removing it over time is impressive
Complexity is hidden inside - there’s channels that do same thing as some of the piping outside
I imagine the incentives here are to remove failure modes and weight, so perhaps the more-streamlined appearance is the result of a more-complex build that has fewer parts and weighs less.
Does that image look like a render to anyone else? Not doubting it’s real, just confused- esp. if you compare it to the photos of raptor 1 and 2 linked in another comment. Maybe it’s the background scene that makes it look too perfect?
They've moved all the fiddly bits inside of the less fiddly bits which will mean they don't need all the engine shielding (mass) to protect the fiddly bits. Yay.
Very Steampunk. Is there data on performance vs Raptor v1 and v2?