The assumption that other countries would not have their own space programs without ITAR is ridiculous.
The space industry, just like the defense industry, is of strategic value. Its almost everywhere funded by the government, in the US by NASA and the DoD. Europe, Russia, China, India, Japan all have their own programs because of this, not because of ITAR. It may be a factor too, but certainly not a decisive one.
The UK may be a special case because its basically perfectly fine with being governed by Washington.
Not sure if this has been posted before but here's a patent application for "Prevention of icing in the intakes of aerospace propulsors". http://www.google.com/patents/US5088280?dq=ininventor:%22Alan+Bond%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gIG4UMPsJJT68QTf3YHwAg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAjgK
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/british-inventor-gets-100m-booster-for-space-plane/story-fnb64oi6-1226679121920A BRITISH inventor is to be handed $100m by the government to build a 5600km/h aircraft capable of flying people into space or taking Britons to Australia in 4 and a half hours.Alan Bond, the founder of Reaction Engines, based in Culham, Oxfordshire, has designed a revolutionary jet-rocket hybrid engine that could blast an aircraft out of the atmosphere and into low earth orbit in just 15 minutes.
It turns out the Australian can't do math correctly. It's £60m which works out to almost exactly $90m.According to an Australian source, REL has received $100 million in new funding recently. No details due to a paywall.Actually, there was some info I missed before:Quotehttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/british-inventor-gets-100m-booster-for-space-plane/story-fnb64oi6-1226679121920A BRITISH inventor is to be handed $100m by the government to build a 5600km/h aircraft capable of flying people into space or taking Britons to Australia in 4 and a half hours.Alan Bond, the founder of Reaction Engines, based in Culham, Oxfordshire, has designed a revolutionary jet-rocket hybrid engine that could blast an aircraft out of the atmosphere and into low earth orbit in just 15 minutes.
Its even closer in Au dollars. If fact, the math is quite accurate in $Au.
Quote from: aero on 07/14/2013 11:57 pmIts even closer in Au dollars. If fact, the math is quite accurate in $Au.They should have just left in pound sterling to avoid confusion.Anyway, if anyone with access to the original story, either in the Australian or the Sunday Times, has access to it, I'd be curious to hear what they are going to do with this investment from the British government.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/10181438/19000mph-spaceplane-gets-Government-funding-to-spark-UK-space-race.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/government-to-spend-60m-on-revolutionary-rocket-engine-that-will-be-used-on-spaceplane-skylon-8710542.htmlhttp://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/07/to-infinity-and-beyond/http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/inspired-investment/story-19524456-detail/story.html#axzz2ZCTmBSp6http://www.ealinggazette.co.uk/ealing-news/world-uk-news/2013/07/16/60m-for-spaceplane-rocket-engine-64767-33615463/
Skylon is described as a "likely competitor to Virgin Galactics" in several of these links. Who said that?? I'm not sure that's what the chancellor said, anyway.
Quote from: grondilu on 07/16/2013 10:44 amSkylon is described as a "likely competitor to Virgin Galactics" in several of these links. Who said that?? I'm not sure that's what the chancellor said, anyway.It's just classic journalistic nonsense I guess.
[...]The £60 million invested by Government will help to prime the pump for the remainder of the investment capital needed for full engine development. It will be staged over two years, £35m in 2014/2015 and £25m in 2015/2016. The commercial investment will look to capture several times the initial investment as part of a 3 to 5 year programmme.[...]Over the next four years, the Government’s money will be spent on four major elements of the SABRE engine development each of which is critical to realising the full production engine design at the end of the project: - the heart of the investment will be the SABRE engine technical design work - improving the lightweight heat exchanger technology and manufacturing capability - wind tunnel and flight testing of SABRE engine components - and a significant part of the programme will be a ground demonstration of the engine.A prototype SABRE is expected by 2017, and flight tests for the engine around 2020.
UK Science Minister Willetts: We won't let Reaction Engines' scramjet tech 'slip through our fingers' like turbojets did to US in 1940s.
The head of Esa's mechanical engineering department, Constantinos Stavrinidis, said the agency took the view that Sabre was a realisable technology, but that it might be some years yet before the engine got into the skies."It took a while before steamships took over from clippers; it took a while before jet engines took over from propellers. But I'm convinced this is the last frontier, utilising oxygen from the atmosphere. This technology - the heat exchanger - has demonstrated that it can work," he told BBC News.