

UK Skylon spaceplane passes key review - timthorn
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13506289

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smackay
Three cheers for Alan Bond's dogged determination to get this to reality and
for pursuing private backing rather than the vested interests in the corporate
sector or government. Perhaps this time the UK can innovate and reap the
rewards too.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Bond_(rocket_developer)>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Streak_(missile)>

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hugh3
It's nice to know that these things are progressing, but the details don't get
me too excited:

 _Skylon has been in development in the UK in various guises for nearly 30
years._

And what's the latest milestone?

 _The UK Space Agency (UKSA) had commissioned Esa to evaluate the design, and
the European organisation's staff reported on Tuesday that they had not seen
any obvious flaws._

Well that's just great, guys! So you'll let me know when there's a working
prototype, right? Great.

I also liked:

 _But REL says it has developed an anti-frost solution that will allow the
heat exchanger to run and run. Esa's technical staff have witnessed this
"secret technology" on the lab bench and can confirm it works._

I wonder whether this fuel-system de-icing system is also a disk operating
system and genetic lifeform.

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suprgeek
The "Skylon" name makes me very nervous for some reason :)

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stcredzero
They should install a visible red-light scanner in front that sweeps back and
forth.

EDIT: Seriously, if they can manage $1000/kg, someone calculated a launch cost
target of $336/lb for the viability of solar power satellites. That's $740/kg,
so they'd be within spitting distance of some truly disruptive capability.

~~~
hugh3
That sounds rather optimistic, given that it's hard to even make solar cells
pay for their own manufacturing cost when you stick 'em on Earth, let alone
launch 'em into space. And there's not that much more sunlight in space.

~~~
sorbus
In space, there's no interference from the atmosphere - no clouds, nothing
blocking portions of the spectrum. You have constant sunlight whenever you're
facing the sun. The difference between getting 12 hours of light unless it's
cloudy and 24 hours of light is huge. Just that doubles the per-day output of
a solar cell (you would have to get it into an orbit that keeps it facing the
sun, but that's not especially hard).

~~~
stcredzero
_you would have to get it into an orbit that keeps it facing the sun, but
that's not especially hard_

From where we're sitting, it's daunting. But once there's power-producing and
power-beaming infrastructure in orbit, then we can power tugs with plasma
thrusters to transfer material from LEO to GEO.

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wazoox
This is reminiscent of the HOTOL of the 80s :
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOTOL>

