---
title: "New Rocket Engine Could Whip You From London to Sydney in 4 Hours"
description: "## Rocket Plane"
date: "2019-03-16"
modified: "2019-03-16"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-rocket-engine-london-sydney"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "europe"
  - "rocket engine"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# New Rocket Engine Could Whip You From London to Sydney in 4 Hours

![The makers of a new hypersonic rocket engine say it could whip flights from London to Sydney in just four hours, traveling at five times the speed of sound.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/new-rocket-engine-london-sydney.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Reaction Engines\</em\>*

## Rocket Plane

The makers of a new hypersonic rocket engine say it could whisk flights from London to Sydney in just four hours, traveling at five times the speed of sound. That's a flight that can take [20 hours](<https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45568179>) on a conventional jetliner.

According [to the *BBC*](<https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47585433>)*,* UK company Reaction Engines says it's gearing up to test the futuristic craft in Colorado — a startling vision of the future of transportation that could also, if the engine lives up to the hype, inform the future of spaceflight.

## Screaming Fist

Reaction Engines, which has backing from the Rolls-Royce and Boeing, calls the new rocket engine the Sabre. It inhales air at lower altitudes, but works more like a rocket when it gets higher up.

"The core can be tested on the ground, but it's the core that gets you air-breathing from the ground up to the edge of space, at which point there is no more oxygen to breathe and the system transitions to the pure rocket mode," said Shaun Driscoll, Reaction Engines' program director, according to the *BBC*.

## Orbiter

The company also says the Sabre engine could push the frontiers of spaceflight, by sending crafts straight into orbit without multiple propellant stages, according to the *BBC*, which also reported that the the European Space Agency recently signed off on a design review for the Sabre engine.

"The positive conclusion of our Preliminary Design Review marks a major milestone in Sabre development," ESA's head of propulsion engineering Mark Ford told the broadcaster. "It confirms the test version of this revolutionary new class of engine is ready for implementation."

**READ MORE:** [UK's air-breathing rocket engine set for key tests](<https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47585433>) \[*BBC*\]

**More on rocket engines:** *[UK Startup Shows Off World’s Largest 3D Printed Rocket Engine](<https://futurism.com/orbex-3d-printed-rocket-engine>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)