UK pledges fresh support for revolutionary space engine SABRE

SABRE Space Plane

A revolutionary engine that can turn an aircraft into an orbiting spaceplane has won fresh backing from the British Government.
The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, singled out the SABRE project that will power Skylon into space in his 2013 spending review delivered to Parliament.

The hybrid engine - its name stands for Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine - is currently being developed by Reaction Engines, based at Abingdon, near Oxford.

With this baby I still may get to space before I die
Finally a real contender for affordable space flight.

reply to post by Trillium



Im amazed how closely the SABRE resembles the spacejet from 2001 a space odyssey

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
reply to post by Trillium

 

Im amazed how closely the SABRE resembles the spacejet from 2001 a space odyssey

Ya guess we just miss it by a few year
Better late then never I say now where can I buy a ticket

reply to post by Trillium


Posting so I can come back later. Another nice find

there is a good ongoing discussion here regarding the whole
efficacy of rockets at extreme altitudes and within the vacuum of space.
Why Rocketry Doesn't Work in the Vacuum.

we live in times where we need to doubt and question everything.
all things main stream are immediately labelled suspect.

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
reply to post by Trillium

 

Im amazed how closely the SABRE resembles the spacejet from 2001 a space odyssey

science fiction is a great inspiration for 'reality'.
satellites are an arthur c. clarke invention of the mind
which later became an actuality. or did they?
(how do they really work then? and have you tried google-imaging 'satellites'?
-you might be surprised at what you don't find!)

the point being that if rocketry is not possible at extreme heights and in
the vacuum of space then we are swimming so deep in deception it's a
wonder we can even tell our collective arses from our collective elbows.

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
reply to post by Trillium

 

Im amazed how closely the SABRE resembles the spacejet from 2001 a space odyssey

Erm... no it doesn't...

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
reply to post by Trillium

 

Im amazed how closely the SABRE resembles the spacejet from 2001 a space odyssey

Actually that 2001 ship looks closer to Hotol, the original concept that Skylon is descended from.

www.flightglobal.com...

I have to say, this appears to be a very uncharacteristic case of the government backing something worthwhile. Shocked i am, truly shocked.

reply to post by AthlonSavage


Arthur C. Clarke a very bright man... great movie btw...

Amazing! Simply amazing!!!!

Now let's get to working on Enterprise 1701-D!!!!

I wanna donate money to this!

If Britain can get this working then the wealth it would bring is would be astronomical!!!!

The first country that finds a cheap way into space and can get a working infrastructure for mining becomes the next super power. That most likley why funding has not been cut for it. Our dumb goverment are not dumb enough not to see the potential!

Unfortunately we will most likely hand it over to the USA but hopefully we will claim a few near earth asteroids and a big chunk of mars first.

Originally posted by crazyewok
I wanna donate money to this!

If Britain can get this working then the wealth it would bring is would be astronomical!!!!

The first country that finds a cheap way into space and can get a working infrastructure for mining becomes the next super power. That most likley why funding has not been cut for it. Our dumb goverment are not dumb enough not to see the potential!

Unfortunately we will most likely hand it over to the USA but hopefully we will claim a few near earth asteroids and a big chunk of mars first.

The plan isn't to build the Skylon vehicle I don't think. The plan is to get the engine technology to the point that its a proven mature product and then license the technology out to others.

Still potentially very lucrative. The SABRE engine is as revolutionary as the jet engine. Hopefully we will be smart enough not to give the IPR away for free this time.

Originally posted by justwokeup


The plan isn't to build the Skylon vehicle I don't think. The plan is to get the engine technology to the point that its a proven mature product and then license the technology out to others.

Still potentially very lucrative. The SABRE engine is as revolutionary as the jet engine. Hopefully we will be smart enough not to give the IPR away for free this time.

I think the UK should go the full hog and get it up and runnig as quickly as possibly. In the long run it would pay our national debt x 1000 if we can be first to exploit space. In my opinion the first country that exploits space wins the word.

Originally posted by TopsyTurvyOne

Originally posted by AthlonSavage
reply to post by Trillium

 

Im amazed how closely the SABRE resembles the spacejet from 2001 a space odyssey

science fiction is a great inspiration for 'reality'.
satellites are an arthur c. clarke invention of the mind
which later became an actuality. or did they?
(how do they really work then? and have you tried google-imaging 'satellites'?
-you might be surprised at what you don't find!)

the point being that if rocketry is not possible at extreme heights and in
the vacuum of space then we are swimming so deep in deception it's a
wonder we can even tell our collective arses from our collective elbows.

This is what I find. What is it I don't find?

You doubt they exist? Really? That's off the deep end without knowing how to swim.

Now, why in the world would you say rocketry is not possible in a vacuum?

Originally posted by crazyewok

Originally posted by justwokeup


The plan isn't to build the Skylon vehicle I don't think. The plan is to get the engine technology to the point that its a proven mature product and then license the technology out to others.

Still potentially very lucrative. The SABRE engine is as revolutionary as the jet engine. Hopefully we will be smart enough not to give the IPR away for free this time.

I think the UK should go the full hog and get it up and runnig as quickly as possibly. In the long run it would pay our national debt x 1000 if we can be first to exploit space. In my opinion the first country that exploits space wins the word.

edit on 3-7-2013 by crazyewok because: (no reason given)

I would not be displeased at a UK/US partnership in achieving that. Proof that English is the best language!

This cobblers gets trotted out every so often by the British Gov (usually when times are hard). They always end up giving a couple of quid to 2 blokes in a garden shed to come up with "engineering stuff" and then it all goes quiet again until the next time it gets trotted out. It's just a sales pitch in the hope of attacting some dumb idiot's money and making it look like the UK is actually doing something about space.

reply to post by nomadros


So lets not just bother and let China and India get out there first and force the west into the 3rd world. Yeah great Idea

Originally posted by crazyewok
reply to post by nomadros

 

So lets not just bother and let China and India get out there first and force the west into the 3rd world. Yeah great Idea

I'm all for bothering, but it's not up to me. This bunch have been scribbling "concepts" since the early 1980s had have yet to come up with anything. Their last deadline wooshed past about 2 years ago and still nothing. They've so far produced 30 years of jack. They ain't gonna change any day soon.
wikipedia entry

Originally posted by nomadros

Originally posted by crazyewok
reply to post by nomadros

 

So lets not just bother and let China and India get out there first and force the west into the 3rd world. Yeah great Idea

I'm all for bothering, but it's not up to me. This bunch have been scribbling "concepts" since the early 1980s had have yet to come up with anything. Their last deadline wooshed past about 2 years ago and still nothing. They've so far produced 30 years of jack. They ain't gonna change any day soon.
wikipedia entry

Your post is based on an out of date wikipedia entry.

They built and successfully tested the pre-cooler design in 2012. Tests independently reviewed by ESA.

Dr Mark Ford, ESA's Head of Propulsion Engineering, said:
"One of the major obstacles to developing air-breathing engines for launch vehicles is the development of lightweight high-performance heat exchangers. With this now successfully demonstrated by Reaction Engines Ltd, there are currently no technical reasons why the SABRE engine programme cannot move forward into the next stage of development."

The next stage involves construction and test of a full size engine.

The folks at reaction engines have dragged this idea into being through sheer british engineering talent and bloody minded-ness. Alan Bonds journey with this is similar in a great many ways to the great Frank Whittles in the 30s. For a long time the MoD put a block on development efforts as the engine technology patent was classified Secret way back in 1983. It took years for this to be reversed.

The jet engine was also '30 years of jack' until it was proven to work. Then it rapidly became ubiquitous. This is the same deal.

reply to post by nomadros


You need to brush up on the details matey, as has been said, ESA has just recently signed this project off after a successful demonstration of the pre-cooler, an integral part of the engine.

www.reactionengines.co.uk...

EDIT: Not to mention the other tech demonstrators which are or are nearing completion. All the parts are there..