Hypersonic “Space Plane” Promises 4-hour London to Sydney Flights by 2030s

(CNN) — Flight times from London to Sydney could be 80% shorter by the 2030s, should a *hypersonic rocket engine being developed in the UK get off the ground.

The Synergetic *Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) engine, from Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines, looks to be the jewel in the crown of this new *enterprise.

“When we have brought the SABRE rocket engine to *fruition, that may enable us to get to Australia in perhaps as little as four hours,” said Graham Turnock, head of the UK Space Agency.

“This is technology that could definitely deliver that. We’re talking the 2030s for *operational service, and the work is already very advanced.”

Fans of supersonic flight have been *yearning for a new way to break the sound barrier ever since Concorde stopped flying in 2003.

In April 2019, Reaction Engines announced successful tests of a precooler, *simulating conditions at Mach 3.3, or more than three times the speed of sound.

That’s more than 50% faster than the cruising speed of Concorde — which used to make the journey between New York and Paris in around 3.5 hours — and matches the speed record of the fastest jet aircraft ever made, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

The precooler tests took place at a testing facility at the Colorado Air and Space Port in the United States.At such high speeds, air flowing through the engine can reach *incredibly high temperatures, which can potentially cause damage.

（CNN）— 如果英國正在研發的超音速火箭引擎可以成功，那麼在2030年代，由倫敦到雪梨的飛行時間有望縮短80％。

來自牛津郡的React Engines的Synthetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine（SABRE）發動機看起來將成為這家新企業皇冠上的明珠。

英國航天局負責人格雷厄姆·特諾克說：“當我們將SABRE火箭發動機付諸實踐時，這可能使我們能夠在短短四個小時內到達澳大利亞。”

“這絕對是可以實現的技術。我們正在談論2030年代的運營服務，而且工作已經非常先進。”

自從協和飛機於2003年停止飛行以來，超音速飛行的愛好者一直渴望找到一種突破聲音障礙的新方法。

在2019年4月，Reaction Engines宣布成功測試了預冷器，以3.3馬赫的速度模擬條件，即聲音速度的三倍以上。

這比協和飛機的巡航速度快50％以上。協和飛機過去曾在紐約和巴黎之間進行約3.5個小時的航行，其速度堪比有史以來最快的噴氣式飛機洛克希德SR-71黑鳥。

預冷器測試在美國科羅拉多州航空航天港的測試設施中進行。

在如此高的速度下，流經發動機的空氣會達到令人難以置信的高溫，這可能會導致損壞。