If links between New Mexico and UK plans for reusable spaceplanes were not evident enough with Spaceport America and Virgin Galactic’s presence there then a new research contract has only made those trans-Atlantic connections more concrete
UK single stage to orbit Skylon spaceplane developer Reaction Engines has announced on its website that it has placed a study contract with the Physical Science Laboratory at the New Mexico State University (NMSU)
Reaction Engines says: “NMSU will be undertaking a preliminary evaluation of the requirements that Skylon D1 will need to meet for safe autonomous flight”
Skylon D1 is an enhanced version with a greater payload capability. The UK company states that the university was selected because of its heritage with unmanned flight vehicles – Skylon is not piloted but may have a passenger module for its payload bay
NMSU’s knowledge of the US National Airspace System and “expertise” about the worldwide airspace systems were also factors in its selection