Raptor engine

Ford redesigned the Ranger pickup truck for the 2024 model year, pushing it into its fifth generation. I drove both the XLT and the Raptor, comprising two of the four models of Ranger available now.

Watching a space launch is bucket-list material, and Starship – the biggest, most powerful rocket in history – is a monster spectacle that draws tens of thousands. Joe Salas went to Boca Chica, Texas to catch the latest launch and check out Starbase.

When Ford debuted the new Bronco in its full-sized format, it was aimed at Jeep and its Wrangler. The Jeep, having few real competitors for years, is now faced with serious competition in the form of two Bronco models – the Everglades and the Raptor.

SpaceX has notched up another milestone in its efforts to reach Mars by fixing its Raptor Vacuum engine to the Starship spacecraft and test-firing it for the first time. This larger engine variant will propel the massive vehicle once it reaches space.

​How does one lift 100 metric tons of spacefaring gear into low-Earth orbit? For SpaceX and its ambitious CEO, that means strapping 31 advanced boosters to the bottom of a retro-styled rocket and shooting for the stars. Test-firing of this engine has now reached lift-off levels of power.

​​Lifting all the pieces needed to colonize Mars off the face off the Earth is going to involve some serious firepower, and SpaceX has just tested out an important piece of the puzzle, engaging a flight version of its Raptor engine for the first time.