Collapse of Reaction Engines likely to impact UK, US hypersonics development

An artist's impression of Concept V hypersonic military aircraft demonstrator that forms part of the UK's wider Hypersonic Air Vehicle Experimental programme. Reaction Engines, which was involved in the effort, has now gone into administration. (Reaction Engines)

Reaction Engines was taken into administration on 31 October, likely impacting the efforts of the United Kingdom and the United States to develop hypersonic propulsion and weapon systems.

The collapse of the Oxfordshire-based company came after efforts to find a financial backer to secure approximately GBP20 million (USD26 million) of additional funding failed.

Founded in 1989, Reaction Engines developed propulsion systems for hypersonic flight and space access vehicles, and was known specifically for its Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) technology. The SABRE is a hybrid engine blending jet and rocket technology that is capable of Mach 5 in air-breathing mode and Mach 25 in rocket mode for space flight.

Since 2015 Reaction Engines had received millions of pounds of investment from the UK government, as well as from BAE Systems, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and other defence sector companies, and had been contracted by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the US Department of Defense (DoD) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for its advanced propulsion technologies.

For the UK MoD, Reaction Engines was involved in the Hypersonic Air Vehicle Experimental (HVX) programme, which is being run by the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Rapid Capabilities Office, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and the UK's National Security Strategic Investment Fund, as well as industry partner Rolls-Royce. The HVX programme saw the reveal in 2022 of a new concept for a hypersonic military aircraft, dubbed Concept V, to rapidly develop critical high-Mach/hypersonic technologies, including novel airbreathing propulsion architectures, innovative thermal management systems, and advanced vehicle concepts.