The aero-engine giant was involved in Sabre's precursor years - a spaceplane concept back in the 1980s known as Hotol. When that hit technical difficulties, Rolls-Royce let its interest go ...
The Oxfordshire company is developing Sabre with the support of BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Boeing. All are keen to see the many years of refinement on the engine concept finally come to fruition.