UK-based hypersonic engine development company Reaction Engines has entered administration after failing to secure £20 million (US$26 million) of funding.
173 of the company’s 203 employees were made redundant yesterday by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after attempts to secure funding to continue development of its hypersonic-capable SABRE (synergetic air-breathing rocket engine) failed. The administrators are working with the Government’s Redundancy Payments Service to affected staff receive their statutory entitlements as soon as possible.
According to Sky News, talks have involved existing investors Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems, as well as the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund, the investment arm of the UAE’s Tawazun Council.
Sarah O’Toole, joint administrator and partner at PwC said, “It’s with great sadness that a pioneering company with a 35-year history of spearheading aerospace innovation has unfortunately been unable to raise the funding required to continue operations.
“We know this is a deeply uncertain and unsettling time for the Company’s talented and dedicated employees. We are committed to providing them with all the necessary support at this time.”
The SABRE engine is designed to operate in two modes – from take-off to hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 while within the atmosphere it sucks in air like a conventional jet engine to combust hydrogen fuel. Once above the atmosphere, it becomes a conventional rocket and uses liquid oxygen (LOX) stored on board. The engine’s air-breathing characteristics reduces the amount of heavy LOX a launch vehicle has to carry.
Reaction initially planned to develop a spaceplane called Skylon that would use SABRE, but for many years efforts have focused primarily on engine development. The decades-long program achieved a milestone earlier this year when a ground test rig consisting of a Rolls-Royce jet engine modified with Reaction’s precooler technology ran in conditions representative of Mach 3.5.
However, SABRE has never flown and in recent years the company has been attempting to shore up funding by forming partnerships that use its highly efficient precooler system. These include a program with the US Air Force to boost the speed of fighter jets and heat exchangers for the Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing cars.
Reaction is also involved in several UK Government-funded aerospace R&D programs, and is a major part of the country’s plans to develop hypersonic missiles and aircraft under the Hypersonic Air Vehicle Experimental program and the Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework. It remains to be seen how Reaction’s insolvency will impact these programs, although analysts believe it will be a setback.
Reaction Engines’ remaining employees will be retained temporarily at its Oxfordshire base to complete a number of existing orders and support in winding down operations.
