private industry aerospace founded 1989 headquarters culham science centre oxfordshire england key people alan bond founder products orbital spaceplanes airliners heat exchangers website http www.reactionengines.co.uk reaction engines limited rel is a british aerospace manufacturer based in oxfordshire england . 1 contents 1 history and personnel 2 current research 2.1 skylon 2.2 sabre 2.3 a2 3 advanced studies 3.1 passenger module for skylon 3.2 orbital base station 3.3 reaction engines troy 3.4 fluyt otv 4 references 5 external links history and personnel edit reaction engines was founded in 1989 by alan bond lead engineer on the british interplanetary society s project daedalus and richard varvill and john scott scott 2 the two principal rolls royce engineers from the rb545 engine project . the company conducts research into space propulsion systems centred on the development of the skylon re usable ssto spaceplane . the three founders worked together on the hotol project funding for which was withdrawn in 1988 largely due to significant technical obstacles . clarification needed the division of responsibilities 3 is mark thomas ceng fraes managing director 2015 4 nigel mcnair scott non executive chairman 2010 alan bond founder and chief engineer tom scrope finance director 2014 4 richard varvill technical director and chief designer sam hutchison director of corporate development 2012 dr robert bond corporate programmes director 2008 gordon harrison production director 2010 dr john garrod as non executive director 1996 in 2015 bae agreed to buy a 20 % stake in the company as part of an agreement to help develop reaction s synergetic air breathing rocket engine sabre hypersonic engine designed to propel the skylon orbiter . 5 6 current research edit skylon edit main article skylon spacecraft skylon is a design for a single stage to orbit combined cycle powered orbital spaceplane . sabre edit main article sabre rocket engine the sabre engine skylon and the sabre engine by which it will be powered are being developed as a private venture which aims to overcome the obstacles that were imposed on further hotol development due to the british government classifying the hotol engine as an official secret and keeping the engine design classified for many years afterward . the company s current research effort is focused on precooler heat exchanger technology with additional funding gained from the sale of consultancy . the company has also received funding from the eu to investigate applications of its technologies to rapid long distance passenger transport under the lapcat project . citation needed in february 2009 the european space agency announced that it was partially funding work on skylon s engine to produce a demonstration engine by 2011 . 7 8 in july 2016 at the farnborough air show reaction engines announced 60m in funds from the uk space agency and esa to create a ground based sabre demonstration engine by 2020 . 9 a2 edit main article reaction engines a2 the reaction engines a2 concept in the upper atmosphere on 5 february 2008 the company announced it had designed a passenger plane to the concept stage . the a2 would be capable of flying non stop halfway around the world at hypersonic speed mach 5 . 10 the a2 s engine scimitar has precooler technology which is somewhat similar to sabre but does not have the rocket features and is optimized for higher efficiency for atmospheric flight . advanced studies edit reaction engines ltd. is currently also researching about more advanced spaceflight . passenger module for skylon edit although skylon is designed to only launch and retrieve satellites and that is also unmanned reaction engines ltd. has proposed a passenger module in the payload bay of the reaction engines skylon spaceplane . 11 the passenger module is sized to fit in the payload bay and can carry up to 24 passengers and 1 crew . there is an iss type docking port and airlock as the central feature . there are two ground entry doors that align with the doors on the side of the skylon payload bay to allow easy ground access to the cabin . the doors are fitted with conventional inflatable chutes for passengers to escape in case of any ground emergency . there are space shuttle type windows on the roof of the module for passengers to enjoy the view in space . there is also a washroom and hygienic facilities provided in the cabin . citation needed the initial configuration will be fitted with five ejector seats for four passengers and one crew rather similar to the first four space shuttle spaceflights . once the passenger module is fully certified the ejection seats will be removed and there will be 16 upright seats installed for a short stay in space 14 days and 4 supine seats for long stay in space 14 days . an upright seat will also be provided for the crew . there are also life support systems under the cabin floor equipment bays and cargo holds . citation needed orbital base station edit the orbital base station obs is a concept of a future expandable space station to serve as an integral part of a future space transportation system and also in the maintenance and construction of future manned moon and mars spacecraft . 12 the construction of the obs is modular and assumes the use of the reaction engines skylon in low earth orbit . the structure is based on a cylinder designed to allow space inside the cylindrical section for the construction and repair of various spacecraft . the cylindrical structure will also provide space for habitation modules with docking ports manipulator arms and propellant farms to refuel an interplanetary spacecraft . reaction engines troy edit the reaction engines troy is a concept of a future manned mission to mars . the concept arose to confirm the capability of the skylon launch vehicle that it can and does enable large human exploration to the solar system s planets . 13 the troy spacecraft will consist of an unmanned precursor mission which will consist of an earth departure stage and a mars transfer stage . there is a habitation module a storage module and a propulsion module to be deployed from the spacecraft to land together at a selected site on the martian surface to form a base . there are also ferry vehicles designed to transfer crew members to and from the base to the orbiting manned spacecraft . there will be three precursor spacecraft to mars to set up three bases on the planet to enable maximum exploration of the planet s surface . 50 days after launch the earth departure stage is brought back to low earth orbit by the earth s gravity and the fluyt space tug will bring the stage back to the orbital base station for construction of the later manned mission . citation needed the manned spacecraft will consist of 3 habitation modules 3 docking ports and two ferry vehicles . the spacecraft will rotate along the centerline to provide artificial gravity . it will leave earth with the earth departure stage and transfer to mars with the mars transfer stage and rendezvous with the precursor spacecraft in martian orbit . the craft will dock together to enable the crew to transfer to the ferry vehicles for descent to the surface at a selected site . the crew along with the equipped rovers will spend 14 months to explore the martian surface . the crew will return to martian orbit with the ferry vehicle and rendezvous and dock with the orbiting manned spacecraft . after a detailed inspection of the vehicle the spacecraft will leave mars for earth on the earth return stage . when the craft is captured in a molniya orbit around earth the crew will board a ferry vehicle for transfer to low earth orbit and rendezvous and dock with the waiting skylon spacecraft for return to earth . construction of the spacecraft will take place at the orbital base station inside the cylindrical structure . because the spacecraft is of highly modular design the components will be brought up by the skylon spacecraft . the rocket engines fuel and oxidizer tanks and habitation modules are sized to fit inside the skylon payload bay and that the fully assembled craft would also fit inside the cylindrical structure of the obs . 14 fluyt otv edit the fluyt orbital transfer vehicle is a concept of a future space tug . it has the ability to dock with orbiting spacecraft and move payload in orbit . it is designed to be assembled from two parts each sized to fit inside the skylon payload bay it can be launched from the skylon and will also be an integral part for the construction of the orbital base station as well as the reaction engines troy and the retrieval of the earth departure stage from the precursor mission of the troy mission . 15 16 references edit wikinews has related news uk firm designs hypersonic passenger jet reaction engines ltd. main page . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . bbc four the three rocketeers . bbc.co.uk . 2012 09 15 . retrieved 2016 07 01 . reaction engines ltd about management . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . a b reaction engines ltd news updates . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . norris guy 1 november 2015 . bae takes stake in reaction engines hypersonic development . aviationweek.com . aviation week & space technology . retrieved 1 november 2015 . peggy hollinger ; clive cookson 2015 11 01 . bae systems to pay 20.6 m for 20 % of space engine group . ft.com . retrieved 2016 07 01 . rob coppinger 19 february 2009 . skylon spaceplane engine technology gets european funding . flight global . retrieved 2009 04 15 . jonathan amos 19 february 2009 . skylon spaceplane gets cash boost . bbc news . retrieved 2009 04 15 . anthony sebastian 13 july 2016 . reaction engines unlocks funds for single stage to orbit sabre engine . ars technica . retrieved 13 july 2016 . hypersonic passenger jet designed . bbc news . 5 february 2008 . retrieved 2009 04 15 . passenger module study for reaction engines skylon . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . advanced studies orbital base station . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . advanced studies reaction engines troy . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . video on troy mission to mars . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . the fluyt otv . reactionengines.co.uk . retrieved 2016 07 01 . iac 10 . d2 .3.7 the fluyt stage a design for a space based orbit transfer vehicle external links edit reaction engines limited homepage reaction engines talk to the space fellowship mark hempsell from rel appeared on the space show v t e reaction engines limited engines satan sabre scimitar aircraft spacecraft skylon a2 related lapcat rb545 hotol v t e aerospace industry in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom manufacturing in the united kingdom companies current ad aerospace agustawestland airbus uk astrium satellites surrey satellite technology bae systems bae systems integrated system technologies bae systems military air solutions 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