Space Plane Enterprise Unveils Lighting Fast Hybrid Rocket Engine

Thought the concept of teleportation was farfetched? A team of engineers from a British company called Reaction Engines Limited (REL) are pushing the boundaries of travel with a revolutionary new hybrid rocket engine that can transport passengers anywhere in the world – in just four hours!

The engineers assert that their next generation machine could be used to power the space planes of the future, a claim that has won them a huge amount of funding from high profile aerospace company, BAE Systems. The investment totals a colossal £20.6 million, a figure that represents a 20% stake in the company. This follows an additional £60 million cash injection from the UK government which seriously lined the company’s pockets. The cash will be used to fine tune the development of the hybrid rocket engine, as well as assist REL in manufacturing its very own ‘Skylon’ space plane.

A new era of engine

The engine’s been dubbed SABRE, an acronym that stands for Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine. While the Oxford based company has been developing the idea since 1989, it’s only just come to fruition. REL has revealed that it hopes to reach ground testing stages by 2020 – just five years away!

So what exactly does the term ‘hybrid jet/rocket engine’ mean? Essentially, the fusion of technology allows the machine to operate both within the Earth’s atmosphere, and in outer space. When cruising the Earth’s atmosphere SABRE will operate in air-breathing jet mode that sees it such in air and burn a combination of oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel in its combustion chamber. When in space, the engine will power itself using on-board liquid oxygen. No other engine of its kind has ever taken to the skies before which makes it a huge step forward for the aerospace sphere. Not to mention the British engineering sector. Already it’s being compared to breakthroughs such as the Concorde, though hopefully its fate will be more fortunate.

“Today’s announcement represents an important landmark in the transition of Reaction Engines from a company that has been focused on the research and testing of enabling technologies for the SABRE engine to one that is now focused on the development and testing of the world’s first SABRE engine,” said Mark Thomas, Managing Director of REL.

For a supercharged glimpse at how technology is facilitating the nextgeneration vehicles of tomorrow, ‘Thermal Imaging Helps to Build High-Performance Electrical Racing Car’ is a must read write up.

Image via Flickr Creative Commons. Credits: Matt Bidulph