SKYLON is a future spacecraft by REACTION ENGINES LIMITED using SABRE engine. this space plane provide horizontal takeoff and landing as conventional aircraft which helps in space tourism.

1. PRESENTED BY
BASIL BABU
MECHANICAL ENGG.
MGMCET
2015-19
SKYLON

2. 2 /26
SKYLON
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
HISTORY
SABRE ENGINE
ADVANTAGES
APPLICATION
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

3. INTRODUCTION
 Our universe is huge that contain millions of stars and galaxies.
 Men have learned to launch sizable vehicle to moon and planet with
sufficient speed and accuracy.
 After the mission the space craft remain as a waste in the space or will be
crashed down into the ocean.
 The main disadvantage of these spacecrafts are that, they cannot be reused.
 They also faces issues such as bulkier design, high fuel consumption, high
cost, less payload carrying capacity and have high chance of failure.
3 /26

4.  SKYLON is a space plane that can be a replaced for the current scenario of
space travel by its reliability, ease of operation, and eco-friendly nature.
 It uses horizontal take off and landing like a conventional aircraft.
 The main advantage is that it can be reused for 200 flight which reduces
launch cost.
BASIL BABU
INTRODUCTION (Contd..)
4 /26

5.  SKYLON has its origin within a previous space development program for a
single stage to orbit space plane known as HOTOL in 1982.
 British government and Rolls-Royce put initiative to produce reusable
launch system with initial investment of 2 million euro.
 Later on government and Rolls-Royce withdraw the project because
HOTOL require much research and it is a slow process.
 In 1989, Alan Bond, British engineer who works with HOTOL establish
own company Reaction Engine Limited and revealed its space plane
proposal which was named as SKYLON.
HISTORY
5 /26

6.  REL developed initial SABRE engine for SKYLON which was first tested
on 2008 and successfully concluded a series of test.
 Many funding for the project was announced by many U.S based and non-
U.S based company at each stage of development of SKYLON.
 The main investors include UK Space Agency, German Aerospace Center,
Astrium, Boeing and Rolls-Royce.
 REL begin the construction of SABRE in 2017, which is expected to be
achieve in 2020.
BASIL BABU
HISTORY (Contd..)
6 /26

7. BASIL BABU 7 /26
SKYLON
THE SPACE PLANE OF TOMMORROW…

8.  SKYLON is single stage to orbit (SSTO) hypersonic spacecraft that uses
horizontal take off and landing.
 It reaches 300 km low earth orbit (LEO) with a payload of above 15 tonne.
 It uses combined cycle engine known as Synergistic Air Breathing Rocket
Engine (SABRE) that works in both air breathing and rocket mode.
 SABRE helps vehicle to cruise at hypersonic speed (around Mach 5.5)
within earth atmosphere.
 Unlike all current launch system, SKYLON will be reusable i.e, being
capable of 200 flight and requires just 45 hrs for the next takeoff.
BASIL BABU
SKYLON
8 /26

9. MAIN PARTS OF SKYLON
Fig 1. Parts of SKYLON
9 /26

10.  Fuselage and wind load bearing structure is expected to be a silicon carbide
reinforced titanium space frame.
 They are light and strong which support the weight of aluminum fuel tank
to which ceramic skin is attached.
 Multiple layers of titanium alloy foil thermal insulation are sandwiched
between skin and frame to protect from heat.
 SKYLON uses low density fuel in the form of liquid hydrogen.
 So great volume of fuel is required to reach the orbit.
FUSELAGE AND STRUCTURE
10 /26

11.  SKYLON have low ballistic coefficient. So the vehicle is slowed at low
temp where is air thinner ,i.e skin reaches only 1000K.
 It contain a retractable undercarriage which carry high pressure
tyres and water cooled brakes.
 The payload bay has a capacity of 15 tonne.
 The currently proposed SKYLON model is a large vehicle,
possessing a length of 83.13 metres and a diameter of 6.30 metres
FUSELAGE AND STRUCTURE (Contd..)
Fig 2. Structure of SKYLON
11 /26

12.  Initial weight of SKYLON at takeoff is
270tonne which include 66tonne of liquid
hydrogen and 150tonne of liquid oxygen.
 At landing it weight 55tonne only.
 A special runway is required for landing of
SKYLON.
 SKYLON requires a 3.2km Code F civil
runway to land.
FUSELAGE AND STRUCTURE (Contd..)
Fig 3. SKYLON takeoff
12 /26

13. SABRE ENGINE
 Synergistic Air Breathing Rocket Engine
 Jet engine with combination of both air
breathing mode and rocket mode engine.
 SABRE design helps to reduce weight of
vehicle compared to conventional engines.
 Air breathing mode helps to suck in atmosphere air as a source of oxygen to
burn with liquid hydrogen (upto Mach 5).
 Rocket mode uses liquid oxygen in tank for combustion (upto Mach 27.8)
Fig 4. SABRE engine
13 /26

14. MAIN COMPONENTS OF SABRE
PRE-COOLER
INTAKE CONE
COMPRESSOR
INTAKE
ENGINE NOZZLE
BYPASS BURNER
INJECTORS
COMPRESSORS
& PUMPS
Fig 5. Component parts of SABRE
14 /26

15. MAIN COMPONENTS OF SABRE
PRE COOLER
 Initially inlet air is hot due to compression effect at
supersonic speed.
 Conventional engine uses heavy nickel for cooling down
the air by reducing pressure ratio.
 SABRE design is emerged from liquid-air cycle engine concept.
 It contain a network of paper thin metal tubes filled with liquid helium
which helps to cool the air from 1000°C to -150 °C in 0.01 sec.
 To prevent ice formation a methanol injecting 3D printed dicer is used.
Fig 6. Pre-cooler
15/26

16. COMPRESSOR
 In air breathing mode pre cooled air is compressed in turbo compressor.
 This air will be compressed at a high pressure of 140atm.
 Turbo compressor is powered by a gas turbine operating on waste heat
collected from helium loop.
HELIUM LOOP
 The heat absorbed by the helium from the inlet air on pre cooler is used to
run various parts of the engine.
 This helps to provide a self starting Brayton cycle based engine.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF SABRE (Contd..)
16 /26

17. MAIN COMPONENTS OF SABRE (Contd..)
NOZZLE
 Instead of multi stage nozzle concept SABRE engine
operates using a array of nozzle.
 80% Bell design nozzle is used.
THRUST CHAMBER
 This is where the compressed chilled air get mixed with the liquid
hydrogen to produce thrust for spacecraft.
Fig 7. Bell shaped nozzle
17 /26

18. BASIL BABU
WORKING
 SABRE mainly have two modes of operations.
 Initially the SKYLON works with air breathing mode.
Fig 8. AIR BREATHING MODE Fig 9. ROCKET MODE
Liquid Hydrogen
Liquid Hydrogen
Turbo Compressor
Combustion
Engine
18 /26

19. WORKING (Contd..)
 In this mode air entering through inlet cone will be hot due to compression
effect at supersonic speed.
 Those hot air passes through a pre-cooler where the air is cooled from
1000°C air to -150 °C in 0.01 sec.
 Here the heat of air is absorbed by helium liquid present in the pre-cooler.
 Now the chilled air is passed to turbo compressor where the air is
compressed.
 Turbo charger is powered by a gas turbine which works with waste heat
received by the helium loop.
19 /26

20. WORKING (Contd..)
 The compressed air is given to combustion/thrust chamber where the air is
mixed with hydrogen liquid and combustion occurs.
 Due to this a thrust is formed which provide the spacecraft to ignite and
move forward.
 When SKYLON reach at a speed of Mach 5, the air breathing mode stops
and rocket mode starts.
 Here the inlet cone is closed, thus no air intake to the engine.
 At combustion chamber, the liquid hydrogen get mixed with liquid oxygen
in the fuel tank to produce thrust for spacecraft.
20/26

21.  SKYLON can be reused for 200 flight, which is 20 times greater than SpaceX
Falcon 9 and Falcon heavy.
 Only 2 days is required to provide necessary maintenance and make ready for
next flight.
 It could carry 11 tonne cargo to international space station which is 45% more
than European Space Agency and 25% more than SpaceX F9.
 It only requires a runway for landing and takeoff.
 Light in weight and strong ceramic structure helps SKYLON to re-enter into the
atmosphere.
BASIL BABU
ADVANTAGES OF SKYLON
21 /26

22. Telecom application
 SKYLON can deliver payload to LEO from
where the satellite can be propelled to GEO
by its power.
 This helps to reuse the satellite launchers
for future application.
Personal and Cargo application
 Once the endurance certificate is achieved a
cabin module for 30 passengers can be used
to utilize SKYLON as transport system.
BASIL BABU
APPLICATIONS OF SKYLON
Fig 10. Tele Communication
Fig 11. Personal And Cargos Carrying
22 /26

23. Space station supply
 SKYLON can link to space stations using a
specially designed interface allowing
passengers and supplies to be delivered.
Future Exploration Module
 SKYLON would be able to launch elements
on in-orbit infrastructure such as modules for
future space stations, for space telescopes, for
planetary missions and for large satellites.
BASIL BABU
APPLICATIONS OF SKYLON (Contd..)
Fig 12. Space station supplies
Fig 13. Future exploration module
23 /26

24.  SKYLON is the future of aviation and space industry, which may ease many
missions from earth surface to space.
 Further modification in the engine may lead not only to the orbit but also
far away from that.
 SKYLON reduces the technical risk and increase the performance, which
consequently reduces the specific launch cost.
 This makes possible space tourism for people belongs to any community.
BASIL BABU
CONCLUSION
24 /26

25.  Jude Joseph Davy et.al, (2016), ‘SKYLON Space Plane’, International
Journal of Engineering And Science , Vol 6, Pg:71-77.
 Rupesh Aggarwal et.al, (2015), “SABRE ENGINE: Single Stage to Orbit
Rocket Engine”, International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4, Issue 10
 Richard Varvill and Alan Bond (2008), “THE SKYLON SPACEPLANE:
PROGRESS TO REALISATION”, JBIS, Vol. 61, pg 412-418
BASIL BABU
REFERENCES
25 /26

26. BASIL BABU 26/26