Recently Reaction Engines, a British Company, gained an investment of £20.6 million from BAE Systems and £60 million in grants from the UK Government to support their SABRE system which they say should be ready for testing by 2020.
SABRE is a “hybrid system that has the potential to bind aircraft and spacecraft together,” according to IEEE Spectrum. And despite the complications that keep space planes hypothetical, Reaction Engines has reportedly found solutions.
“SABRE’s rocket engine can use atmospheric air as an oxidizer at speeds of up to Mach 5.5 and altitudes as high as 25 kilometers. [It pumps] liquid helium through a fine array of tubing […] that acts as a heat sink. The chilled air is fed into a compressor, and then into the engine itself, where it’s combusted along with liquid hydrogen fuel to produce thrust,” IEEE Spectrum reported.
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