Reaction Engines and High-Speed Propulsion

Home , Jet engine, SABRE (rocket engine)

Future In-Space Operations Seminar – August 7, 2019

Adam F. Dissel, Ph.D. President, Reaction Engines Inc.

Tangible benefits to everyday life Expansion of our understanding

• Expensive • Low-Operability • Low-Reliability

…Which increases the cost of space assets themselves and restricts growth of space market

…little change in launch vehicle technology in almost 60 years…

1957 Today

4 Copyright © 2019 Reaction Engines Inc. Why All-Rocket LV’s Could Use Help All-rocket launch vehicles (LVs) are challenged by the physics that dictate performance thresholds…little improvement in key performance metrics have been for decades

Mass Fraction Propulsion Efficiency – LH2 Example Reliability 1400000 Stage 2 Propellant 500 1.000 Propellent 450 1200000 Vehicle Structure 0.950 236997 400 1000000 350 0.900 300 800000 0.850 250

Launches 0.800 600000 320863 200 906099 150 400000 Orbital Successful 0.750 100 Hydrogen Vehicle Weights (lbs) Weights Vehicle 0.700 LV Reliability

454137 (seconds)Impulse 200000 50 Rocket Engines

Hydrogen Rocket Specific Specific Rocket Hydrogen 0 0.650 0 48943 Falcon 9 777-300ER 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Air-breathing enables systems with increased Engine efficiency is paramount but rocket Launch vehicle reliability has reached a plateau mass margin which yields high operability, technology has not achieved a breakthrough in and is still too low to support our vision of the reusability, and affordability decades future in space

Kitty Hawk DH66 Hercules DC-3 Comet 4 Concorde 1903 1969

1. Breakthroughs in propulsion technology lead system evolution 2. Advantage of air-breathing propulsion 3. Horizontal operations enable system architectures that can decrease cost and increase operability 4. High flight rate of reusable vehicles accelerates mastery and improvements

6 Copyright © 2019 Reaction Engines Inc. Reaction Engines • Reaction Engines Limited (REL) is a private UK company developing an advanced combined cycle air- breathing engine “SABRE” (Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) • SABRE is a new class of engine combining the air-breathing efficiency of a jet engine with the power and speed of a rocket, all in a single engine installation → From the runway to orbit! • SABRE and SABRE-derived technologies have application to a variety of space access and high-speed aircraft systems. • Company has raised over £100M from private and strategic investors as well as a UK government grant

A Revolution in Launch Systems Requires a Revolution in Propulsion

1. Cool 2. Regenerate 3. Integrate Cool the hot incoming air by Re-inject the heat captured into Combine jet and rocket to create 1000oC in 1/20th second to enable the engine to drive components, engine class capable of high Mach hypersonic flight thereby reducing fuel consumption atmospheric and space flight in a single engine 8 Copyright © 2019 Reaction Engines Inc. SABRE Performance SABRE provides improved performance over a wide speed range for efficiency and thrust to weight 1 2 High fuel efficiency in Operates from a air breathing mode up standing start to Mach 5.4

SABRE (air-breathing) SABRE (air-breathing) 8,000 20 SABRE (rocket mode) SABRE (rocket mode) RR Trent 900 6 7,000 (A380) Step change in thrust to 3 weight ratio when switched SABRE (H2 fuel) SABRE (H fuel) 6,000 Switches to rocket mode 15 2 to rocket mode to power the when altitude too high to RR Trent 900 platform into space 5,000 Turbofan use atmospheric air (A380) Ramjet (H2 fuel) EJ200 4,000 Olympus 593 (Typhoon) (Concorde) 10 5 EJ200 Higher thrust to weight at 3,000 Scramjet (H fuel) Turbofan with Olympus 593 (seconds) (Typhoon) 2 high Mach numbers than afterburner (Concorde) 2,000 Turbofan with P&W J58 XLR99 RS-25 other air-breathing engines Engine thrust to to weight Enginethrust P&W J58 (SR-71) (X-15) afterburner (Shuttle) (SR-71) Ramjet 5 Turbofan SJX61 (X-51) est. Specific Impulse (Efficiency) SpecificImpulse(Efficiency) 1,000 SJX61 (X-51) est. Scramjet Ramjet Rocket Scramjet 0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 Mach Number Mach Number Fuel efficiency drops to align with conventional 4 rocket when switching to rocket mode as liquid oxygen has to be used instead of atmospheric air

9 Copyright © 2019 Reaction Engines Inc. Basic SABRE Cycle Description AIR HYDROGEN • Two modes of operation: Air-Breathing and Rocket HELIUM • LH2 Fuel, Atmospheric Air & LOX Oxidizer COMBUSTION GASES • Thermodynamic Cycle using gaseous Helium at high pressure AIR-BREATHING CC

HEAT AIR COMPRESSOR TURBINE INTAKE EXCHANGER

ROCKET THERMODYNAMIC CYCLE CC

Liquid Hydrogen from tanks

LH2 HEAT SINK PUMP

CORE HOT PRECOOLER INTEGRATED FLIGHT TEST FIRST ENGINE TESTING TESTING TEST APPLICATION

• Extremely successful high-temperature testing of SABRE precooler conducted in 2019 at the company’s new high-temperature test facility in Colorado • Reaction Engines proceeding rapidly towards development and testing of SABRE cycle core at the soon to be complete TF1 test facility in the UK • The precooler and core cycle demonstrations will validate some of the most novel building blocks of SABRE • The ability to establish technology credibility through ground test is a hugely significant advantage and greatly reduces cost, risk, and development time.

Requirement • Rapid cooling of airflow from up to 1800 F • High MW-class heat transfer

Development • Manufacturing breakthrough achieved • Innovative frost control system • Extensive validation at ambient inlet conditions (inset) • Precooler testing at high Mach conditions in 2019

J79 Jet Engine

Only 465 Days From Ground breaking to Integrated Test Success!

HTX Precooler Test Article Integrated into TF2

• Next generation SABRE-powered or other precooled propulsion systems with increased performance, reliability, operability, and cost

• Reusable • Requires threshold flight rate – scale first systems to meet maximum demand payload class • Recurring experience required to improve/learn • Reliable • Reliability needs to increase significantly and then steadily from then onwards • Increased options for abort modes and safe recovery • Robust • Systems will not improve significantly while designed at the ragged edge of their capability → mass margin needed for reusability, reliability, and robustness features • Rocket equation still rules → so higher propulsive performance needed • Operable • Shorten system call-up to < 24 hours • Evolution in operations architecture – payload agnostic and disconnected from processing flow until last • Standardization of launch service & schedule • Affordability matched with Capability

• Mach 0 to 5+ speed range, unique flight envelopes, operational flexibility, majority ground testable enables more rapid, lower risk development

Questions?