Britain... the next leaders of the space race?

A company in Britain is building an engine dubbed Skylon which will allow space craft to take off from a runway and lift off into space and beyond with just one engine.... And then it can land again on a runway, with the same engine... How much could this revolutionise space travel?





If you consider the commercial applications alone and given that several companies are already considering the mining of large asteroids for their metal and ore deposits. Then there are the tourist companies, who will take their passengers far beyond the stratosphere, to the moon, to Mars and further still. If this works, how far reaching will its application be and given that actually getting away from our planet is one of the most difficult and costly parts of space exploration; how fare forward would such an invention take us. Suddenly, anything is possible...

So could this very British invention work,and will the UK government put up the cash to fund it? History teaches us, that we will invent it and then allow someone else to bring it to market and exploit the potentially huge income that could derive from it. Typically British, we invent and then stand by helpless, as others benefit...

But then, wait a minute; the UK space industry is growing exponentially. We are already amongst the leaders in the development of new satellite technology and only last week, it was announced that a UK company would build the space craft which is due to travel closer to the Sun than any vessel before it.



Actually in the grand scheme of things, none of this is important. Does it really matter in the long term who built what? If we are looking to the stars and beyond, we should all be as one. The economic benefits are irrelevant... Aren't they?