Testing is under way to demonstrate the heat exchanger technology crucial to a hybrid air- and liquid oxygen-breathing rocket motor that Oxford-based Reaction Engines believes will enable single-stage-to-orbit flight.
The Sabre engine is intended to power a reusable, runway take-off and landing unpiloted spaceplane called Skylon, which promises to put payloads of up to 12t into orbit - and as much as 6t to a high geostationary orbit - for 10% of the cost of a traditional rocket launch.
Reaction's Sabre engine relies on a heat exchanger capable of cooling incoming air to -140C, to provide liquid oxygen (LOX) for mixing with hydrogen to provide jet thrust during atmospheric flight before switching to tanked LOX when in space.
Reaction insists the heat exchanger works, but trials set to run to year-end are needed to demonstrate to waiting investors that the technology is viable. Then, the company says, its investors are ready to release £200 million ($325 million) for a 2012-14 project phase to build an engine demonstrator. If successful, a further £7.5 billion ($10 billion) should be forthcoming to develop the airframe for service from 2020, says the company.
The Skylon design - to be developed and built in partnership with an established aerospace manufacturer - features a fuselage and wing load bearing structure made of carbonfibre-reinforced plastic. An external shell of fibre-reinforced ceramic carries only aerodynamic pressure loads, which are transmitted to the fuselage structure through flexible suspension points.
At 87m (285ft) long and with a 25m wingspan, Skylon would be capable of carrying 10t to the International Space Station.
Ultimately, Reaction intends to build the Sabre engines itself.
The Sabre engine is intended to power a reusable, runway take-off and landing unpiloted spaceplane called Skylon, which promises to put payloads of up to 12t into orbit - and as much as 6t to a high geostationary orbit - for 10% of the cost of a traditional rocket launch.
Reaction's Sabre engine relies on a heat exchanger capable of cooling incoming air to -140C, to provide liquid oxygen (LOX) for mixing with hydrogen to provide jet thrust during atmospheric flight before switching to tanked LOX when in space.
Reaction insists the heat exchanger works, but trials set to run to year-end are needed to demonstrate to waiting investors that the technology is viable. Then, the company says, its investors are ready to release £200 million ($325 million) for a 2012-14 project phase to build an engine demonstrator. If successful, a further £7.5 billion ($10 billion) should be forthcoming to develop the airframe for service from 2020, says the company.
The Skylon design - to be developed and built in partnership with an established aerospace manufacturer - features a fuselage and wing load bearing structure made of carbonfibre-reinforced plastic. An external shell of fibre-reinforced ceramic carries only aerodynamic pressure loads, which are transmitted to the fuselage structure through flexible suspension points.
At 87m (285ft) long and with a 25m wingspan, Skylon would be capable of carrying 10t to the International Space Station.
Ultimately, Reaction intends to build the Sabre engines itself.
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