Skylon is the British project to build the first ever human spaceplane. It is unique because of its SABRE engines that change fuel type mid-flight. If Reaction Engines Ltd can pull this off, as they do have increased funding and new sites, they could create a new age of British inventions and economic prosperity. The Miles M.52 springs to mind....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOqInOe5g8k

Will these be ready for Christmas? I'm stuck trying to find something my dad would like.

Similar vein ...... i see the Bloodhound project to break the Land Speed Record has recently gone into administration after 10 plus years of planning and fund raising.....the administrators are looking for just another £25m to fund the project through to completion.....its a long way from the classic men in shed style british inventors.

Skylon has interesting technology but I'd be amazed if it ever comes to fruition. A vast amount of expenditure required to get the project off the ground (pun intended) and it has been decades in the design already. I don't see investors queueing up to spend billions on the off chance that getting stuff into orbit might become cheaper in years an years time.

SpaceX seem to be the ones in the driving seat reducing costs with tried and tested rocket technology, so unfortunately, I just can't see Skylon being a goer.

I'd personally prefer to see some serious government investment in power generation (preferably advanced nuclear), battery technology, electric motors, robotics etc.

Quoted from Maringer

Skylon has interesting technology but I'd be amazed if it ever comes to fruition. A vast amount of expenditure required to get the project off the ground (pun intended) and it has been decades in the design already. I don't see investors queueing up to spend billions on the off chance that getting stuff into orbit might become cheaper in years an years time.

SpaceX seem to be the ones in the driving seat reducing costs with tried and tested rocket technology, so unfortunately, I just can't see Skylon being a goer. And for that reason, I'm out you might add.

I'd personally prefer to see some serious government investment in power generation (preferably advanced nuclear), battery technology, electric motors, robotics etc.

I was watching that Brian Cox the other night. He was filming at the 'lab' trying to develop fission power in the US. I couldn't help but think that whoever develops that first is going to be in the driving seat.

Ahem. I think you mean 'fusion'.  ;)

Which one was Cox at? The Lockheed skunkworks one? They are reportedly closer than most attempts from what I've read but there does seem to be a lot of hot air about it all and fusion looks to be a very long way off to me still. ITER, the one we've been spending money on for decades, is still decades away from producing anything useful. Despite the vast amounts of money thrown at fusion research, I reckon the better choice is more modern fission designs.

It's a tragedy that the country which was the first to develop nuclear power is now completely unable to build our own reactors and so is reliant on putting vast amounts of money into the pockets of the French and Chinese governments who have continued to develop the technology. And the EPR selected is massively over-complicated and over-expensive as well.

Lots of companies working on small modular reactors but in my view, there are much better theoretical designs, not least Molten Salt Reactors which aren't pressurised which means the risk of an explosion is practically nil. The Yanks developed them back in the 1960s/1970s then dropped the technology in favour of Fast Breeder reactors - which don't work reliably enough. Liquid sodium to cool a reactor? What a crazy idea!

Quoted from Maringer

Ahem. I think you mean 'fusion'.  ;)

Which one was Cox at? The Lockheed skunkworks one? They are reportedly closer than most attempts from what I've read but there does seem to be a lot of hot air about it all and fusion looks to be a very long way off to me still. ITER, the one we've been spending money on for decades, is still decades away from producing anything useful. Despite the vast amounts of money thrown at fusion research, I reckon the better choice is more modern fission designs.

It's a tragedy that the country which was the first to develop nuclear power is now completely unable to build our own reactors and so is reliant on putting vast amounts of money into the pockets of the French and Chinese governments who have continued to develop the technology. And the EPR selected is massively over-complicated and over-expensive as well.

Lots of companies working on small modular reactors but in my view, there are much better theoretical designs, not least Molten Salt Reactors which aren't pressurised which means the risk of an explosion is practically nil. The Yanks developed them back in the 1960s/1970s then dropped the technology in favour of Fast Breeder reactors - which don't work reliably enough. Liquid sodium to cool a reactor? What a crazy idea!

Yeah I do mean that. I think.

Can't remember where it was. Somewhere hot. Bloody big place.