LONDON: BAE Systems has bought a 20% stake in a company developing a radical engine that could propel aircraft into space.
BAE is paying £20.6m for the stake in Reaction Engines, which is developing a hybrid rocket/jet engine called Sabre.
Reaction says the technology would allow the launch of satellites into space at a fraction of the current cost and allow passengers to fly anywhere in the world in four hours.
The British government is also investing £60m in the company.
It is based at the Culham Science Centre near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.
The firm hopes to have a ground-based test engine working by the end of this decade and begin unmanned test flights by 2025.
BAE invests in space engine firm Reaction Engines
LONDON: BAE Systems has bought a 20% stake in a company developing a radical engine that could propel aircraft into space.
BAE is paying £20.6m for the stake in Reaction Engines, which is developing a hybrid rocket/jet engine called Sabre.
Reaction says the technology would allow the launch of satellites into space at a fraction of the current cost and allow passengers to fly anywhere in the world in four hours.
The British government is also investing £60m in the company.
It is based at the Culham Science Centre near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.
The firm hopes to have a ground-based test engine working by the end of this decade and begin unmanned test flights by 2025.
