U.S. Air Force Moves Ahead With Studies On Air-Breathing Engines

(EXCERPT) By: Jeremy Singer Space News Staff Writer

While plans for a military space plane remain somewhere off in the
future, the U.S. Air Force is moving ahead with work on the
air-breathing rocket engines that could power such a vehicle.

In late September, the Air Force Research Laboratory awarded contracts
to five companies to begin working on improvements to existing
air-breathing engine technology under an effort with a total budget of
$49 million through 2010.

The goal of the program is to pave the way for engines that are more
powerful and durable than the engines that could be built with
existing technology, making it possible to conduct multiple satellites
launches with the same vehicle.

Plans for the Robust Scramjet program are focused on ground
demonstrations, and do not involve a major flight experiment at this
point, said Bob Mercier, deputy for technology in the aerospace
propulsion division at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s propulsion
directorate at Wright-Patters...

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