Reaction Engines Limited
Encyclopedia
Reaction Engines Limited (REL) is a British
aerospace
company based in Oxfordshire
, England
.
(lead engineer on the British Interplanetary Society
's Project Daedalus
) and Richard Varvill and John Scott-Scott (the two principal Rolls-Royce
engineers from the RB545
engine project). The company conducts research into space propulsion systems, centred around 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project, funding for which was withdrawn in 1988, largely due to significant technical obstacles.
The division of responsibilities is:
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.
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.
On February 5, 2008 the company announced it had designed a passenger plane that would be capable of flying, non stop, halfway around the world at hypersonic speed (Mach 5+), the A2
, to the concept stage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
. The concept has 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.
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.
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.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
company based in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History & personnel
Reaction Engines was founded in 1989 by Alan BondAlan Bond (rocket developer)
Alan Bond is Managing Director of Reaction Engines Ltd and associated with Project Daedalus, Blue Streak missile, HOTOL, Reaction Engines Skylon and the Reaction Engines A2 hypersonic passenger aircraft.- Career :...
(lead engineer on the British Interplanetary Society
British Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:...
's Project Daedalus
Project Daedalus
Project Daedalus was a study conducted between 1973 and 1978 by the British Interplanetary Society to design a plausible unmanned interstellar spacecraft. Intended mainly as a scientific probe, the design criteria specified that the spacecraft had to use current or near-future technology and had to...
) and Richard Varvill and John Scott-Scott (the two principal Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
engineers from the RB545
RB545
The RB545 was an air-breathing rocket engine that was proposed to propel a British space shuttle to orbit using a single stage. Rolls-Royce was involved; while British Aerospace worked on the vehicle.-Design:...
engine project). The company conducts research into space propulsion systems, centred around the development of the Skylon re-usable SSTO
Single-stage-to-orbit
A single-stage-to-orbit vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body without jettisoning hardware, expending only propellants and fluids. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles....
spaceplane
Spaceplane
A spaceplane is a vehicle that operates as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere, as well as a spacecraft when it is in space. It combines features of an aircraft and a spacecraft, which can be thought of as an aircraft that can endure and maneuver in the vacuum of space or likewise a spacecraft that...
. The three founders worked together on the HOTOL
HOTOL
HOTOL, for Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, was a British air-breathing space shuttle effort by Rolls Royce and British Aerospace.Designed as a single-stage-to-orbit reusable winged launch vehicle, it was to be fitted with a unique air-breathing engine, the RB545 called the Swallow, to be...
project, funding for which was withdrawn in 1988, largely due to significant technical obstacles.
The division of responsibilities is:
- Alan BondAlan Bond (rocket developer)Alan Bond is Managing Director of Reaction Engines Ltd and associated with Project Daedalus, Blue Streak missile, HOTOL, Reaction Engines Skylon and the Reaction Engines A2 hypersonic passenger aircraft.- Career :...
- Managing Director and Chief Technical Analyst - Richard Varvill - Technical Director and Chief Designer
- John Scott-Scott - Engineering Director and Chief Development Engineer
Skylon
Skylon is a design for a single stage to orbit combined cycle powered orbital spaceplane.SABRE
Skylon and the SABRE engine by which it will be powered are being developed as a private venture which aims to overcome the obstacles faced by HOTOL.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.
In February 2009, the European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
announced that it was partially funding work on Skylon's engine to produce a demonstration engine by 2011.
A2
Reaction Engines A2
|-See also:-External links:* *...
, to the concept stage.
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
Reaction Engines Ltd. is currently also researching about more advanced spaceflight.Passenger Module for Skylon
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.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
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
-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
Space toilet
A space toilet, or zero gravity toilet, is a toilet that can be used in a weightless environment. In the absence of weight the collection and retention of liquid and solid waste is directed by use of air flow. Since the air used to direct the waste is returned to the cabin, it is filtered...
and hygienic facilities provided in the cabin.
The initial configuration will be fitted with five ejector seats, for four passengers and one crew, rather similar to the first four Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
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
Supine position
The supine position is a position of the body: lying down with the face up, as opposed to the prone position, which is face down, sometimes with the hands behind the head or neck. When used in surgical procedures, it allows access to the peritoneal, thoracic and pericardial regions; as well as the...
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.
Orbital Base Station
The Orbital Base Station (OBS) is a concept of a future, expandable space stationSpace station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
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.
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 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
The Reaction Engines TROY is a concept of a future Manned mission to MarsManned mission to Mars
A manned mission to Mars has been the subject of science fiction, engineering, and scientific proposals throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century...
. The concept has arose to confirm the capability of the Skylon launch vehicle that it can and does enable large human exploration to the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
's planets.
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.
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
Artificial gravity
Artificial gravity is the varying of apparent gravity via artificial means, particularly in space, but also on the Earth...
. It will leave Earth with the Earth Departure Stage and transfer to Mars with the Mars Transfer Stage, and rendezvous
Space rendezvous
A space rendezvous is an orbital maneuver during which two spacecraft, one of which is often a space station, arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance . Rendezvous requires a precise match of the orbital velocities of the two spacecraft, allowing them to remain at a constant...
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
Molniya orbit
Molniya orbit is a type of highly elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63.4 degrees, an argument of perigee of -90 degree and an orbital period of one half of a sidereal day...
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.
FLUYT OTV
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. As it is 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.External links
- Reaction Engines Limited homepage
- Reaction Engines Talk to the Space Fellowship
- http://www.thespaceshow.com/detail.asp?q=1203Mark Hempsell from REL appeared on the The Space ShowThe Space ShowThe Space Show is a biweekly radio talk show, presented by Dr. David Livingston, about space commerce and exploration that is also available archived online as a podcast....
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