Rocketeers.co.uk - a British view of commercial spaceflight

(Source: Reaction Engines)

This October the 60th International Astronautical Congress was held in the city of Daejeon, South Korea and Reaction Engines used the event to launch the SKYLON Users’ Manual. The Manual describes the payload bay interfaces and supplementary systems like upper stages and personnel module that enhance the capability of the basic SKYLON vehicle.

Mark Hempsell presented three papers explaining the background to the Manual and these supplementary systems.

Reaction Engines was also part of the small UK pavilion at the trade exhibition that accompanies the Congress showing the SKYLON operations video and offering hardcopies of the Users’ Manual. The photograph shows the stand manned by Simon Feast who designed it.

Website News

In support of the release of the SKYLON Users' Manual (available in the PDF Documents section), a new library of images of the various payload bay components has been created, containing images of all the items in medium and high resolution.

Payload Bay Image Library

FAQ's

The site now has a page for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) to address some of the most common questions about SKYLON.

Next Big Future features an interview with Richard Varvill, Technical Director of Reaction Engines, on their plans for the Skylon SSTO.

One interesting update: " The Orbital Base Station on the website was designed as part of Project Troy and is sized to provide an assembly facility for the human mission to Mars. We have also looked at supporting Solar Power Satellites, nuclear waste disposal, human lunar missions again all looking good. This OBS will not be the first station to be built when SKYLON becomes operational and the details of the cost and logistics flow have only been looked at superficially. We are looking in more detail at smaller and more imminent space stations and the results of that study – which will answers the questions of cost and maintenance flow, will be ready in about a year."

Andy Janes of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Catgirls posts an interview with Mark Hempsell of Reaction Engines Limited about the Skylon project:

• Interview with Mark Hempsell of Reaction Engines Ltd. -- Hobbyspace

Well worth a read. I note particularly that REL are planning to rely on commercial funding for the bulk of their development costs:

"AJ: How likely do you think it is ESA will fund the follow on projects?

MH: ESA is actually the smallest of our funders; most of our funding comes from private investors, and is probably going to stay that way.

AJ: How likely do you think you will be able to raise the money privately with the current financial crisis?

MH: I don’t really know. It is not my field. At the moment it looks likely the majority of the £12 billion could come from private investors."

Rocketeer comments: I very much hope that the launch market will exist (or can be created) to make the Skylon development an economic proposition, and attractive to the large institutional investors that the project will require. I wish Skylon the best of British luck. My concern is that, if the market exists, it also exists for competing projects which are nearly as good, have significantly cheaper development costs, and lower technical risk. XCOR keeps dropping hints about a TSTO RLV. I don't know what Greason has costed the development of his "blank slide" launch system at, but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that it's very significantly less than £12 billion.

To put it in perspective, Skylon will cost more than the Airbus A380 (€11B to first production aircraft) and on a par with Crossrail (£15.9B) and Chek Lap Kok international airport (US$20B).

Charles Lurio discusses Skylon economics in the 4th September issue of The Lurio Report (subscription required).

BNSC has released a promotional video for the UK space industry sector and the newly opened ESA centre at Harwell. The video features Skylon, but makes no mention of Virgin Galactic. Hmm...

(Source: Reaction Engines)

Reaction Engines Ltd celebrated its 20 year anniversary this month with a company cruise along the River Thames. We are certainly looking forward to the next 20 years which will see SKYLON fly!

The installation of benches, machines and equipment began at the production facility this month. Production trials using inspection equipment and ECM machines are due to commence at the end of September.

General News

During August, REL’s Mark Hempsell, Future Programmes Director, gave live interviews on The Space Show, broadcast in the USA, and on BBC Radio Oxford.

At REL, we frequently read see comments and questions on forums and blogs regarding SKYLON and other projects in the company. Answers to technical inquiries are found in our technical papers, which are easily accessible and downloadable on our website: PDF Documents

We will also soon be introducing an FAQ section to our website, which will answer general queries.

(Source: Reaction Engines press release)

On 15th August 2009, this Oxfordshire aerospace company celebrated its 20th anniversary. Reaction Engines Ltd (REL) has been developing the SKYLON spaceplane, a progression from the HOTOL project, over the past 2 decades and believes that a single stage to orbit (SSTO) reusable launch vehicle (RLV) is the future of global Space travel.

The secret to SKYLON’s success is its innovative SABRE engine which possesses the dual capability to be in air-breathing mode up to 30km and Mach 5 before switching to rocket mode.

Over the past six years, Reaction Engines Ltd has conducted vital studies on and development to the SKYLON concept. The company undertook significant R&D work on its wind tunnel in 2004 which enabled successful frost control studies to take place in 2005. 2005 also saw Reaction Engines Ltd’s custom-designed engine testing facility come to fruition at the B9 test area at Culham Science Centre; the facility has been used to conduct cryogenic testing of components, and in particular, advanced heat exchangers. In 2007 a dumb pre-cooler was installed at B9 in order to simulate a pre-cooler existing in front of an engine. Intensive studies on the LAPCAT A2 hypersonic airliner deflected further testing in the latter part of 2007. An experimental turbine, similar to that used in a SABRE or SCIMITAR engine, successfully demonstrated the robust performance of a counter-rotating stator-less turbine in 2008. Despite the turbine testing being terminated early due to a blade failure, the necessary data were successfully acquired.

Since 2005 the manufacture of heat exchanger modules has continued well. In 2008 the company focussed upon the tube drawing, machining, forming and brazing in preparation for the acquisition of a prototype production facility for heat exchanger components. A major technical issue is the manipulation of tubing with very small bore and walls only a few tens of microns thick, as commercial tube benders capable of handling this tube are unavailable. Reaction Engines has been developing this technology for the SABRE pre-cooler for 7 years with private funding. Recently this work has been applied to the LAPCAT project partly supported by EU funding.

Preliminary studies have begun to develop a larger version of the SKYLON design. SKYLON D1 will be capable of carrying a 25% larger payload into orbit than the current design. It will also be approximately 340 tonnes in weight at take-off compared with the current 275 tonnes.

The company has also undertaken extensive studies on future Space infrastructure projects including work on an Orbital Base Station (OBS) and an Orbit Transfer Vehicle (OTV). A facility such as the OBS is essential as a stepping-stone for much larger space missions. An example study, previously carried out by Reaction Engines Ltd for a future crewed Mars mission (Project Troy), was used as the initial starting point for the OBS. However, the design remains flexible and can be easily adapted to accommodate a range of mission requirements.

SKYLON is edging closer and closer to realisation thanks to not only its highly committed and believing investors, but also the British government. In February 2009, Reaction Engines Ltd received a €1m grant from the European Space Agency (ESA) via the British National Space Centre (BNSC) to investigate and validate its pre-cooler development for SKYLON. Reaction Engines Ltd works in close collaboration with UK institutions, such as University of Bristol and Airborne Engineering, but also with our European counterparts, predominantly Germany.

EADS Astrium in Ottobrunn and DLR Institute of Space Propulsion in Lampoldshausen are both using their expertise to work alongside Reaction Engines Ltd and investigate aspects of the pre-cooler including the combustion chamber technology of the SABRE Engine.

The Technology Demonstration Programme will last approximately 2.5 years and will benefit from another €1m from ESA at the halfway point of the programme. This programme will take Reaction Engines Ltd from a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 2/3 up to 4/5. It is a very exciting time for the company and its innovative spaceplane. The company is relishing the opportunity to demonstrate its concepts and findings. SKYLON’s first flight is planned for 2018 with its entry to service expected to take place in 2020.

For further information on Reaction Engines Ltd and its projects, please check out the website: www.reactionengines.co.uk .

Jonathan Amos responds to readers' queries about the Skylon SSTO project with an update and an audio interview with chief engineer Alan Bond:

• The UK spaceplane aiming to go to a new level -- BBC: Spaceman blog

A few brief updates:

• The new ESA centre at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus will undertake work in "novel power systems", including developing an independent European capability in RTGs (radioisotope thermoelectric generators) and RHUs (radioisotope heater units):
  UK to 'power' European space activity -- Spaceman, BBC Online
• An article on recent scramjet developments in New Scientist makes mention of Skylon: Scramjets promise space travel for all -- New Scientist