Scientists unveil plans for a

By Hum
in Science News & Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Hum

Posted
Posted

Scientists this week unveiled images of a brand new type of reusable 'spaceplane' they hope will more than take the place of these orbiters and elevate space tourism to new heights.

Skylon is an unpiloted craft that engineers at UK-based manufacturers Reaction Engines claim will provide both cheap and reliable access to outer space.

The 90-metre-long craft's secret weapon is a hydrogen fuel-powered rocket engine called SABRE (Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) and was designed by the company's managing director Alan Bond.

Although it is primarily intended to launch satellites, they say the ship, which will carry 30 to 40 passengers, could even pioneer a new era in space tourism.

Currently 80 per cent of the operation is funded by private equity, with the remainder topped up by public funds, including a ?800,000 award from the ESA in 2009.

full story

post-37120-0-84153900-1299891637.jpg

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/981956-scientists-unveil-plans-for-a/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

Skylon would not be the first un-piloted passenger carrying spacecraft - that honor goes to Soyuz. It, like its sister Progress cargo version, can be flown by ground controllers - and often has been.

SpaceX's Dragon and Orbital Sciences Prometheus will also be able to do this, but for Prometheus it will be SOP. Dragon's textbook flight last December was completely robotic, involving simulated ISS approaches and numerous orbital maneuvers. Came within 1/2 mile of landing on the recovery ships deck.

Skylon is a very popular discussion topic in the space community, primarily because its SABRE engine could usher in 2 Holy Grail's: Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) and Flyback Boosters.

A critical part of the SABRE technology is to be tested this summer: a pre-cooler that would generate liquid oxygen from air taken on during flight. This would drastically reduce the Skylon's launch mass.

Grand Master

Xerxes

Posted
Posted

Skylon would not be the first un-piloted passenger carrying spacecraft - that honor goes to Soyuz. It, like its sister Progress cargo version, can be flown by ground controllers - and often has been.

SpaceX's Dragon and Orbital Sciences Prometheus will also be able to do this, but for Prometheus it will be SOP. Dragon's textbook flight last December was completely robotic, involving simulated ISS approaches and numerous orbital maneuvers. Came within 1/2 mile of landing on the recovery ships deck.

Skylon is a very popular discussion topic in the space community, primarily because its SABRE engine could usher in 2 Holy Grail's: Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) and Flyback Boosters.

A critical part of the SABRE technology is to be tested this summer: a pre-cooler that would generate liquid oxygen from air taken on during flight. This would drastically reduce the Skylon's launch mass.

Fascinating :)

Grand Master

Edrick Smith

Posted
Posted

I'd probably be ****ting my pants with a manned ship to space, let alone an unmanned one. Boy that would be scary. Sorry folks "voice over radio from earth launch control", unfortunately the computer system has failed and we wont be able to return you to earth. Since you won't be coming back we've taken the liberty to empty your bank accounts to fund our project. Have a good one.

  • Glassed Silver
  • Like 1
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

Compression heats a gas. To liquify a gas you need to super-cool it.

You super-cool it by rapid expansion after it enters the SABRE's inlet, then liquify it by running it through a staged heat exchanger that uses ultra-cold liquid helium as a working fluid. This also allows for the separation of oxygen and nitrogen since they liquify at different temperatures and also have different densities. SABRE's innovation is doing this with air traveling at hypersonic speed.

The fuel is liquid hydrogen, and combustion occurs in rocket engines at the rear. This combo is used in the 3 main engines of the shuttle and many upper stages because of its high specific impulse (efficiency) if done right.

Before anyone thinks this is just another lightweight outfit, bear in mind it has backing from the UK govt. and tech help from other European agencies. This because it's got a good chance of being a game-changer.

Sabre-Engine.jpg

sabre_cycle.jpg

Grand Master

neoadorable

Posted
Posted

oh no Hum you awakened the SABRE beast within Doc...he loves this plane. while i welcome any way of going into orbit and beyond, i personally don't like the aesthetics of it, i'm in love with the Valkyrie shuttle from Avatar, inspired i believe by the X-33. now that was a tough looking spaceplane!

Grand Master

neoadorable

Posted
Posted

she was a beauty. but bring on the Skylon, as i always say the more the merrier. i think the shake up in Japan reminds us just how fragile a one-planet civilization really is. plus, correct me if i'm wrong Doc, but there are no earthquakes on Mars...

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

Not Earthquakes, Marsquakes ;)

No landers have had seismic gear to date, but high resolution images indicate marsquakes could well be happening. A study a few years ago concluded its core may still be partially molten, it has faults and surface defects along faults that haven't eroded, indicating that they're recent.

  • 2 months later...
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

UK & European Space Agency tech review looks positive...

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/ukspaceagency/docs/skylon-assessment-report-pub.pdf

http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2011/May/confidence-in-skylon

Confidence in SKYLON

The UK Space Agency?s SKYLON technical assessment which was produced by the European Space Agency (ESA) has concluded that there are no significant barriers that would prevent successful continued development of the SKYLON Spaceplane.

>

Grand Master

+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted

Why the hell would anyone want to go to space in a Cylinder tube without any way of enjoying the view of space and earth?

I'd probably be ****ting my pants with a manned ship to space, let alone an unmanned one. Boy that would be scary. Sorry folks "voice over radio from earth launch control", unfortunately the computer system has failed and we wont be able to return you to earth. Since you won't be coming back we've taken the liberty to empty your bank accounts to fund our project. Have a good one.

This is for cargo, not passengers

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

This is for cargo, not passengers

Uhhh....no.

Skylon has been designed to be modular, and one option is s crew/passenger module.

http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/downloads/JBIS_v56_118-126.pdf

Link....

Passenger Module

The SKYLON payload bay is 12.7m long, 4.6m wide and 4.6m high. During normal satellite delivery operations, the bay would carry an interchangeable payload container. When used for passenger transport, an alternative pressurised, self-contained module could readily be fitted between flights. This module would provide a breathable atmosphere and additional life support for 30 or 40 passengers. Under the floor of the cabin, part of the space is needed for life support equipment, with the rest available for passenger baggage and cargo.

Cabin Layout

The central feature of the module is the transfer airlock, used for docking to a space station and for in-orbit transfer between vehicles. Normal ground access is by means of two side doors in the module, which line up with doors in the exterior of the SKYLON fuselage. Passengers would enter and exit using normal airport airbridges.

In case of a ground emergency, e.g. runway overshoot, passengers would exit the cabin through these doors and make their way to the ground by conventional inflatable chutes. The cabin also has two toilet cubicles, operating along the lines of those found on the Russian 'MIR' space station.

>

  • 5 months later...
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

Suggest renaming this thread to "Skylon spaceplane updates" or something like it as progress is starting to move.

The target is for Skylon to be operational around 2020. ?

Latest tech progress report on the SABRE engine and Skylon spaceplane. More companies & ESA involved, airframe design etc.

Link....(PDF)

Also, a possible lunar infrastructure that Skylon could haul to orbit.

Link....(PDF)

  • 1 month later...
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

New Flight Global article on Skylon highlighting new materials they're using and its aerodynamics.

Also: the team has expanded from just a few core researchers to around 300+.

Flight Global....

Skylon space plane places huge demands on exotic structural materials

Engine technology may be key to realising the Skylon space plane, but its airframe is also critical, and possibly just as ambitious. The 87m (285ft) long design, with 25m wingspan, calls for fuselage and wing load bearing structures made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic with an external shell of a fibre-reinforced ceramic that carries only aerodynamic pressure loads transmitted to the fuselage structure through flexible suspension points.

The shell, only 0.5mm thick and corrugated for stiffness, is free to move under thermal expansion, especially during the latter stages of the aerodynamic ascent and re-entry. Revolutionary materials and structures include silicon carbide reinforced glass ceramics and silicon carbide reinforced titanium struts.

Reaction Engines' lead designers, Alan Bond and Richard Varvill, note with pride that their Skylon design has now had its re-entry aerothermodynamics modelled and tested using computational fluid dynamics by DLR, the German space agency. The modelling, they claim, proves the craft can re-enter, though it may need cooling along the hotter parts of its angular design.

So different is the Skylon shape compared to its blunter predecessors - NASA's Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran - that Bond goes so far as to claim the DLR re-entry studies "have shown the hypersonic aerodynamics textbooks need to be rewritten".

skylon3.jpg

Grand Master

neoadorable

Posted
Posted

thanks for the heads up Doc! looking good and of course rooting for them, although the unmanned part puts me off a little...plus every time i hear the name Skylon i think "by your command". that should be its default computer voice.

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

It's not just unmanned - the central mission module can be swapped out to carry cargo, crew, or both.

IIRC if configured for all crew it could hold about 40 with an airlock and docking system. No space destionations for that many folks yet, but Skylon could do it.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Bypassed Windows 11 shows surprising stability on ancient, completely unsupported hardware

      By +Spark99 · Posted

      My experience in the past with older Windows 11 builds was not great on unsupported machines but I recently used Rufus to put the latest build on a older 5th Gen Core Thinkpad T that we upgraded with a SATA SSD and 8GB of RAM four years ago when hardware was reasonable and it seemed pretty fast and solid. Customer is very happy with the performance and will probably get four more years out of that venerable laptop that he loves so much. Another customer just retired his Dell Studio laptop from 2009 running Windows 10. It got an SSD over 10 years ago and did everything he needed it to for 17 years but he also retired last year and is happy doing everything on his iPad now.
    • Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount by Taras Buria In late January 2026, Apple introduced its second-generation AirTag trackers, bringing a refresh to the old model that has been on the market for half a decade. Now, you can get these new trackers at an all-time low price, thanks to the first big discount that brought the price down by 17% on Amazon. While the second-generation AirTag looks identical to its predecessor, it packs meaningful upgrades inside. The second-gen ultrawideband chip works 50% farther than the original AirTag, allowing you to detect lost items in a wider range. In addition, the second-generation AirTag features an upgraded Bluetooth chip for extended range and a significantly louder speaker (up to 50%) so that you can hear it better when locating a lost item. Note that the second-gen AirTag only works with iPhones and iPads that run iOS/iPadOS 26 and newer, so you need a compatible device to use the tracker. Like the original AirTag, the AirTag 2 is available in two packs: one and four pieces. Both are now available at a notable discount on Amazon, and you can purchase them using the links below. Apple AirTag 2 tracker - $24 | 17% off on Amazon Apple AirTag 2 tracker (four-pack) - $89 | 10% off on Amazon Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S.- specific and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Tidal won't monetize AI slop music, company says

      By monterxz · Posted

      I've been on Deezer for over a decade, but glad that Tidal joined them in fighting AI slop. Can't stand such takes as Spotify's: "Spotify's CEO recently pushed back against listeners who call AI music "slop," urging people to stop using the term and instead embrace the creative potential of AI music."
    • Why it's almost impossible to produce a smartphone in the United States

      By Cosmocronos · Posted

      “Could” … in the IS the healthcare is run by insurance companies that make indecent profits denying basic treatments to people that are paying money for nothing. Besides, where are all the Trump epigones who were stating that the tariffs were going to paid by foreign companies and not the US citizens? …
    • Microsoft Teams gets smarter at spotting sneaky meeting bots

      By Usama Jawad96 · Posted

      Microsoft Teams gets smarter at spotting sneaky meeting bots by Usama Jawad Microsoft Teams is set to receive a couple of new features soon, including a dedicated Recap app and a rather controversial location tracking functionality. The Redmond tech giant has also explained how it has made online communication and collaboration a lot more performant this year. Now, the company has detailed more secure bot admission mechanisms, as first reported by us in March 2026, and now available in Teams. As the use of AI has expanded across enterprise environments, Microsoft has begun allowing users to integrate bots into their meetings for various tasks, such as note-taking. While this has a tangible productivity benefit for users, Microsoft has highlighted how misconfiguration has allowed bots to join meetings that they shouldn't. This has created security and privacy risks, which Microsoft is now combating using a new Teams admin policy that allows organizers to control how external bots access meetings. Admins can leverage a policy called Manage external bots and their access to meetings. The default configuration is "When detected, require approval before joining", which places detected bots in a lobby before they are explicitly admitted into the meeting. The other option disables the experience. Microsoft has also requested admins to only allow organizers and co-organizers to manage access to a meeting, so that other people don't randomly allow bots into meetings. Teams will now be able to leverage infrastructure signals to intelligently detect and distinguish between bots and humans. Microsoft will soon also trial a registration experience for independent software vendors (ISVs) to build a system that registers a bot with Microsoft, so it is marked as a "known" bot. Teams will also categorize bots as trusted and suspected threats so that organizers can quickly identify which bots they want to allow into a meeting. Additional safeguards to block accidental admission of a bot into a meeting include: No one-click Admit option for identified bots Confirmation prompts when admitting participants that include bots Warnings when organizers choose Admit all, and bots are included Microsoft has begun rolling out this experience, and it will be retiring the current CAPTCHA verification implementation. In the future, the company plans to roll out new capabilities like allow-lists, organization-wide policies, admin reports, audit logs, and more granular controls.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      538
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      266
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      151
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!