Nice find!"Raptor upper stage engine" does seem to suggest something nearer term than BFR...
This other transaction agreement requires shared cost investment with SpaceX for the development of a prototype of the Raptor engine for the upper stage of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. The locations of performance are NASA Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Hawthorne, California; and Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. The work is expected to be completed no later than Dec. 31, 2018
To me this does not indicate that SpaceX is planning to use the Raptor as an upper stage engine for the Falcon family in the near future. It just indicates that the Air Force thinks Raptor would be suitable as an upper stage engine for their use, which makes sense with its higher ISP than kerolox engines.
Quote from: rocx on 01/13/2016 11:10 pmTo me this does not indicate that SpaceX is planning to use the Raptor as an upper stage engine for the Falcon family in the near future. It just indicates that the Air Force thinks Raptor would be suitable as an upper stage engine for their use, which makes sense with its higher ISP than kerolox engines.That would be my intuition but ScepticMatt points out that the award "requires shared cost investment with SpaceX for the development of a prototype of the Raptor engine for the upper stage of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles". So that's about as clear cut as you can get.
9 SEC. 1604. ROCKET PROPULSION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT10 PROGRAM.11 (a) DEVELOPMENT.—12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense13 shall develop a next-generation rocket propulsion14 system that enables the effective, efficient, and expe-15 dient transition from the use of non-allied space16 launch engines to a domestic alternative for national17 security space launches.18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The system developed19 under paragraph (1) shall—20 (A) be made in the United States;21 (B) meet the requirements of the national22 security space community;23 (C) be developed by not later than 2019;24 (D) be developed using full and open com-25 petition; and 1 (E) be available for purchase by all space2 launch providers of the United States.
Umm.. I'm actually thinking that a new upper stage for Falcon 9 spells death for Falcon Heavy.
A new U/S pops out of nowhere?
I bet: F9 and Falcon Heavy for the next three years, then a transition to Raptor for upper stage in 2018-2018 timeframe followed by BFR debut in 2020-21...
I wonder if this will force SpaceX into a patent now as well. If it's required to be made available for sale it means it would also be available for reverse engineering.