Skylon spacecraft unveiled

A British company called Reaction Engines has unveiled plans for a new unmanned, reusuable earth to orbit spacecraft. The ship will be able to carry 12 tons of cargo into orbit and then return to earth. The spacecraft uses a new kind of dual use rocket engine that is air-breathing for take off and then switches to liquid oxygen in the upper atmosphere. The company says it will take about ten years to get the design into space. In the meantime, the firm's Web site has a really nice animation of operations with the ship, and sci fi buffs will recognize a hat tip to Stanley Kubrick and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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