[outcast]

The skylon

Skylon is an unpiloted, reuseable spaceplane intended to provide inexpensive and reliable access to space. Currently in proof-of-concept phase, the vehicle will take approximately 10 years to develop and will be capable of transporting 12 tonnes of cargo into space.

Skylon will be able to repay its development costs, meet its servicing and operating costs and make profits for its operators whilst being an order of magnitude cheaper to customers than current space transportation systems.

They've recently tested the engine prototypes, so it looks like this is the real deal.


About the Engine

SABRE (Synergic Air Breathing Engine) is a design for a hypersonic hydrogen-fueled air breathing combined cycle rocket engine/turbojet engine/ramjet engine for propelling the Skylon launch vehicle into low earth orbit (LEO). SABRE is the logical continuation of Alan Bond's series of liquid air cycle engine (LACE) and LACE-like designs that started in the early/mid-1980s for the HOTOL project.

The SABRE design combines a lightweight turbine-cycle jet engine with an air precooler positioned just behind the inlet cone. At high speeds this precooler cools the hot, ram compressed air, which allows the jet engine to continue to provide high thrust even at very high speeds. In addition, the low temperature of the air allows light alloy construction to be employed which gives a very lightweight engine — essential for reaching orbit.

The engine also includes rocket engine features which allow the vehicle to reach low earth orbit after leaving the atmosphere after shutting the inlet cone off at Mach 5.5, 26 km altitude.

Awesome stuff.

[mos6507]

Totally looks like a cross between an SR-71 and Von Braun's original idea of the space shuttle as shown on Disney's Man in Space.

Retro Chic

[Ludi]

it looks like this is the real deal.

It will be the "real deal" when it goes into space. Right now it is a design and prototypes, not "the real deal."

[Javaman]

I wonder how such a device will mitigate the effects of oil depletion here on the surface of the Earth?

Will it allow us to find intergalactic petroleum? A new source of untapped heretofore inaccessible energy? Will the grandeur of space, the pride of attaining that, stimulate our orgonistic seed?

Or are such devices (or reports therein) intended to buttress our national campaign of denial, distraction, and our proclivity to look at new toys for old problems--overpopulation, limited resources, greed, war, stupidity etc. etc? I know. People think better in space and will certainly come up with solutions to earthly problems up there.

By the way, the original Saturn 5 space rocket that sent us to the moon 40 years ago burned 15 tons of solid propellant every second it fired.

Development of solar power satellites perhaps?

The Saturn V was liquid fueled, IIRC.

[Ludi]

I wonder how such a device will mitigate the effects of oil depletion here on the surface of the Earth?

It won't, but it makes Spaceboys excited!

[outcast]

it looks like this is the real deal.

It will be the "real deal" when it goes into space. Right now it is a design and prototypes, not "the real deal."

Good point, although you will need prototypes and designs before you can get into space.

I wonder how such a device will mitigate the effects of oil depletion here on the surface of the Earth?

It isn't designed to. If you want mitigated effects, go troll on one of the electric car threads. Thats mitigation. What this could do is open up space to exploration and exploitation by giving us a much less expensive means to access it. Long term that would be very useful.

I know. People think better in space and will certainly come up with solutions to earthly problems up there.

Well it certainly helped the solar industry.

By the way, the original Saturn 5 space rocket that sent us to the moon 40 years ago burned 15 tons of solid propellant every second it fired.

Because it was an enormous rocket.

One thing this could do in the future is help the airline industry. The SABRE is a hybrid jet/rocket engine, so it uses no fossil fuels. Actually if you were to use the sub-orbital approach to flying you could go from new york to london extraordinarily fast.

[outcast]

My point is it takes a lot of petroleum to get into space. I don't believe we have ever sent anything higher than a bottle rocket without petroleum.

Yes the saturn v used it, but the space shuttle uses a lox/lh2 combo for its liquid stage.

Mitigation. Isn't that the point of a peak oil web site? Or are we all tourists in our own land?

Even though PO is this sites main focus, that doesn't we are not allowed to post other things of interest, whether they are real like this or just bogus like all the stuff in the out of this world forum.

And what is with the ad hom? You know what that is, right?

Your reputation for trolling precedes you.

[Javaman]

My point is it takes a lot of petroleum to get into space. I don't believe we have ever sent anything higher than a bottle rocket without petroleum.

The engines will burn hydrogen, which can be obtained by using electricity, which in turn does not need to be generated by using petroleum.

Even back in the '60s and '70s there were people who were against space travel. The saying then was "Why spend so much money in space, when there are so many problems here on Earth?" Maybe the new catch phrase will be "But we can't spare the fuel, we need it for our limos and private jets!"

[Dezakin]

My point is it takes a lot of petroleum to get into space. I don't believe we have ever sent anything higher than a bottle rocket without petroleum.

The engines will burn hydrogen, which can be obtained by using electricity, which in turn does not need to be generated by using petroleum.

Even back in the '60s and '70s there were people who were against space travel. The saying then was "Why spend so much money in space, when there are so many problems here on Earth?" Maybe the new catch phrase will be "But we can't spare the fuel, we need it for our limos and private jets!"

Skylon is a great design that could get the cost for space access down several orders of magnitude. But to be fair, space access hasn't ever been particularly expensive because of a lack of supply due to large marginal costs of launch but rather due to large fixed costs of space access infrastructure, labor, and the like. We could significantly bring the price down with disposable rockets if the demand was there for several thousand launches per year. The demand just isn't there and wont be there for decades... partially because the per-launch cost is so high. Sort of a chicken and egg problem.

Something like skylon may take off in fifty years or more.