This ultra-slim structure is all set to hit the skies within a decade from now. Developed by a UK-based company called Reaction Engines, the Skylon spaceplane project has already received £900,000 of investment from the European Space Agency. The Skylon reusable runway space shuttle is intended to take off from a conventional aircraft runway. After the take-off, the spaceplane burns atmospheric oxygen to power itself, and later uses liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel to defy Earth’s gravity to go into orbit. They key technology to the Skylon design is the Sabre propulsion system, which is a hybrid engine that burns hydrogen and oxygen to deliver the needed thrust. It uses a heat exchanger that cools the 1,000-degree gases entering its intake. The hot intake gases get to minus 130-degrees Celsius in just 1/100th of a second.

Some of the aspects of the Skylon design will be examined by EADS Astrium and the University of Bristol. Anyway, what matters the most is the fact that we might see reusable spaceplanes fly within 10 years. Hopefully, this pioneering technology will open the doors for commercial orbit travel.

Via: Gizmodo/RedOrbit/BBC422612