Reaction Engines Completes Successful High-Temperature Propulsion Test at CASP

Colorado Air and Space Port was the site of Reaction Engines Inc.'s (REI) successful completion of the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) campaign of Reaction’s revolutionary engine precooler heat exchanger at its high-temperature test facility.

First announced in July 2022, the FCT test program was conducted in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and was aligned with the Air Force FCT goal to assess maturing technologies that could meet defense needs.

“The FCT test program greatly expanded the demonstrated capabilities of our engine precooler technology," said REI Director of Engineering, Andrew Piotti. “During these recent tests, the precooler successfully achieved our objective of over 10 megawatts of transferred thermal energy from the high-temperature airflow, which is three times higher than our previous test program.”

The delivery of the required airflow conditions, which mimic those expected during eventual high-Mach flight, necessitated the expansion of REI’s TF2 test facility, and also included the addition of a new water coolant system to reject the huge thermal load. “I’m so proud of our team and the commitment they showed in rapidly meeting these challenges and achieving these important test outcomes,” said Piotti.

Reaction Engines, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary, located at Colorado Air and Space Port, of Reaction Engines Ltd. (REL), Culham UK, a leader in the design, manufacture, and application of thermal management solutions for the aviation, space, energy, and transportation sectors.