This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
Commercialization

UK Government Invests in Skylon Air-Breathing SABRE Rocket Engine

By Marc Boucher
NASA Watch
July 16, 2013
Filed under , ,

UK Space Agency to Develop World’s First Air-Breathing Rocket Engine [Watch], UKSA
Through the UK Space Agency, the Government is set to invest £60 million ($90.5) in the development of the SABRE – a British-designed rocket engine which could revolutionize the fields of propulsion and launcher technology, and significantly reduce the costs of accessing space.
SABRE has the potential to create 21,000 high value engineering and manufacturing jobs; maximise the UK’s access to a conservatively estimated £13.8 billion ($20.8) launcher market over the next thirty years; and provide economic benefits from spill-over technology markets.
Built by UK company Reaction Engines (REL), the unique engine is designed to extract the oxygen it needs for low atmosphere flight from the air itself, paving the way for a new generation of spaceplanes which would be lighter, reusable and able to take off and launch from conventional airport runways.

SpaceRef co-founder, entrepreneur, writer, podcaster, nature lover and deep thinker.

13 responses to “UK Government Invests in Skylon Air-Breathing SABRE Rocket Engine”

  1. ejd1984 says:
    0
    0

    Seriously. Shouldn’t NASA have had the foresight prior to the cancellation of the Shuttle program and had/have a similar program under development already?!?!

    • mattmcc80 says:
      0
      0

      Keeping the Shuttle operational until some epic breakthrough in engine technology was accomplished might’ve been a bit impractical.

      • ejd1984 says:
        0
        0

        I meant that there should have a program under slow/long-term (10-15+ years ago) development for not only new propulsion technologies, but for a true shuttle replacement as well. NASA lately seems to be in a knee-jerk mode for project development and direction – Can’t seem to plan & sustain real long-term programs & goals.

        • mattmcc80 says:
          0
          0

          Yeah, unfortunately they’re being told to change direction every few years so that politicians can leave their “mark” on the space program. It’s a minor miracle any program survives more than one election cycle.

    • Spacetech says:
      0
      0

      In order to do that nasa would have to do aeronautics research which sadly is not a priority for nasa anymore.

  2. rockethacker says:
    0
    0

    their engine appears to be bent…

    • ejd1984 says:
      0
      0

      It has something to do with the internal airflow requirements

    • Gary Warburton says:
      0
      0

      It has to do with the fact that airflow into the engine is strait on and the exhaust out of the rocket nozzles has to be slightly downward and backward.

  3. TheBrett says:
    0
    0

    SABRE was proposed a while ago. What has been the main technical barrier up to this point?

    • ejd1984 says:
      0
      0

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

      The technology has the potential to dramatically lower the cost of space flight, but a stumbling block for engineers until now has been coping with the heat of the air which would enter the engine during its flight.

      Scientists from Reaction Engines Ltd, based in Oxfordshire, overcame the hurdle by devising a new cooling system capable of cooling air entering the engine from 1,000C to -150C in a hundredth of a second, without becoming clogged with ice.

      The breakthrough, which the company has described as “the biggest breakthrough in propulsion since the jet engine”, can in theory allow an aircraft to fly at 2,000mph without overheating.

      The cooling system uses an array of thin pipes filled with condensed helium to draw the heat from incoming air and reduce its temperature to -150C before entering the engine itself.

    • Spacetech says:
      0
      0

      Inlet/air intercoolers.

  4. Vic_Seratonin says:
    0
    0

    Brilliant. Hopefully when this is realised Mr Bond will be able to take his place alongside fellow Britons Frank Whittle (turbojet engine) and Christopher Cockerell (hovercraft) as the inventor of a real game changer.

  5. BeanCounterFromDownUnder says:
    0
    0

    Seriously, the technology is breathtaking but so are the costs. By the time this is commercialised (if ever) other concepts such as SpaceX F9R will be operational at far lower development and turnaround costs.

    Check them out if you don’t believe me. So far, all up, Musk (with assistance from NASA) has spent less than $US2 billion and look what he has achieved. Skylon while technically facinating hasn’t even flown or tested a production version of their engine. Good luck with that.

    My opinion is that this is a means of encouraging the continued employment of highly qualified people and keeping those technology skills in the UK.