How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

© Reac tion engines; Virgin Galac tic; Oscar Viñals; Techn icon Des

ign; A irbus; BA E Systems; Olga Tr ivailo ; Corbis

Intake

nozzle

Air enters the

engine from the

front v ia the

intake nozzle.

Up in the

atmosphere

Once out of the Earth’s

atmosphere, the system

switches to conventional

rocket mode.

Helium

cooling

Helium is cooled by

liquid hydrogen

fl owing past it.

Heat removal

Hot air is pushed to the

outside of the closed system

so it doesn’t interfere.

What the Skylon will look like

when it soars above our sk ies

How exactly will the proposed

SpaceLiner work?

It will use standard rocket technology

such as liquid hydrogen and oxygen-

fuelled rockets to accelerate to Mach

25. Once it is at 70 to 80 kilometres
    (43.5 to 50 miles) high, the booster will
    detach and return to the launch site.
    The craft will then glide all the way to
    its destination.

Does the lack of gravity or wind

resistance play a part in its speed?

No. It cuts travelling times so much

purely because it is travelling so fast

from the rocket boost. It needs to go

that high to go that fast so it can get

the full benefi t from the rocket’s speed.

What sets the SpaceLiner apart

from other fl ight options?

The reusability is a major part in the

SpaceLiner programme. The fact that

we will be able to reuse both parts of

the rocket makes it much more viable

as a business.

What kind of market are you

looking at then?

Initially we want to target the business-

class passengers who need to travel

long distances and want to cut down

their time. A trip to Australia from

Europe [currently] takes over 24 hours

when you count transfer time and when

you get there, you just don’t feel

human. I feel this will really benefi t

mankind as SpaceLiner could also be

used to transport time-sensitive cargo,

such as organs.

Will everyone be able to use it, or

just the extremely physically fi t?

Anyone who is reasonably healthy can

travel on it. At take-off you would

experience at most 2.5 g. To put this

into perspective, a normal fl ight could

create up to 1.25 g and some roller

coasters experience 5 g.

When are we expecting it to come

into service?

If we’re being realistic, in around 30 to

35 years. We need that time because,

even though the rocket technology is

there, we need to make it safe for the

public to use. This means fi nding

materials that can deal with the heat of

the Earth’s atmosphere and making the

passenger pod capable of turning into

an emergency escape pod in the

unlikely event of an accident.

$250,000

Virgin

Galactic

ticket

cost

SpaceShipTwo has a

hybrid-power rocket motor

SpaceShipTwo has already

fl ow n several test fl ights

SPACELINER

Design: German Aerospace Center

We spoke to Olga Trivailo who works at the

German Aerospace Center to explain what is

in store for future long-distance fl iers

London to Sydney

in 90 minutes

A concept drawing of what the

SpaceLiner will look like

DID YOU KNOW? Many celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Stephen Hawking are reportedly on Virgin Galactic’s passenger list