Reaction Engines has raised a further £26.5 million in a strategic fundraising, including the backing of Boeing and Rolls-Royce, who now join BAE Systems in helping develop Reaction Engines’ SABRE aerospace engine. Financial investments in Reaction Engines will also be made by Baillie Gifford Asset Management and Woodford Investment Management.

The SABRE engine could potentially revolutionise space transport, being able to breathe air then turn into a rocket motor, making high speed aircraft and spacecraft launches faster and cheaper. SABRE class engines can power aircraft capable of flying from London to Australia in four and half hours or spaceplanes that take off into orbit from a runway and land back on it.

Mark Thomas, chief executive of Reaction Engines said: “In addition to providing our largest round of private investment, these new partners bring invaluable expertise in both hypersonics and engine technologies with significant access to target markets. This is not only a vote of confidence in our technology but also underlines belief in our ability to develop a thriving commercial business which will provide strong financial returns for our shareholders.”

The investments agreed to date take the total raised by Reaction Engines in the last three years to over £100 million, including British Government funding commitments, and will support key elements of the company’s SABRE development programme, which has the objective of commencing ground-based testing of a SABRE engine core in 2020.

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