The European Space Agency (ESA) has inked a deal with British firm Reaction Engines Ltd to work on a paradigm-punishing new type of spacecraft engine. The tech could lead to fully reusable runway-launched space shuttles "within ten years".
According to Alan Bond, MD of Reaction Engines:
"Traditional throw-away rockets costing more than a $100 million per launch are a drag on the growth of this market. The Holy Grail to transform the economics of getting into space is to use a truly reusable spaceplane capable of taking off from an airport and climbing directly into space, delivering its satellite payload and automatically returning safely to Earth.
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/19/skylon_gets_esa_pennies/
An innovative UK launcher concept is to get 1m euros (£900,000) of investment from the European Space Agency (Esa).
The Skylon spaceplane would take off from a conventional aircraft runway, carry over 12 tonnes to orbit and then return to land on the same runway.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7898434.stm
(Hmmm... Big difference in the money between these reports...)
ESA: British Skylon spaceplane seems perfectly possible
Good news for spaceplane fanciers today, as a new report issued by the European Space Agency (ESA) says that "no impediments or critical items have been identified" which could block continuing development of the radical British-designed "Skylon" orbital craft.
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/24/skylon_esa_report/