In its lifetime, the world's first Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) has provided information that will prove invaluable for the next generation of spacecraft that will succeed it.
One such craft is the Skylon, an unpiloted, single-stage, reusable spaceplane currently under development by UK-based Reaction Engines Ltd. (REL).
The Skylon got a shot in the arm last month with the release of a technical review of Skylon carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA) that concluded there are "no impediments" that would prevent the continued development of the Skylon and its SABRE engine.
The Skylon design, which grew out of the HOTOL (Horizontal Take-Off and Landing) program by Rolls Royce and British Aerospace that was terminated in 1988.
The design consists of a slender fuselage containing propellant tankage and payload bay, with delta wings attached midway along the fuselage carrying the SABRE engines in axismmetric nacelles on the wingtips.
With a payload bay measuring 4.6 m (15 ft) in diameter and 12.3 m (40 ft) long, Skylon is designed to transport up to 15 tons of cargo into Low Earth Orbit (LEO, approx. 300 km /186 mile) at about 1/50th of the cost of traditional expendable launch vehicles, such as rockets. It could also carry 10.5 tons to a 460 km (286 mile) equatorial space station, or 9.5 tons to a 460 km x 28.5 degree space station, when operating from an equatorial site.
Read more here: ESA review finds 'no impediments' for SKYLON spaceplane development
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