A new space age could be about to begin with the cost of putting cargo into orbit falling from £15,000 per kilo to £650.
Instead of huge multi-stage rockets, a relatively light plane will take off from a conventional runway and reach space in a single journey without a pilot.
The engine could also make possible passenger flights from London to Australia in just over four hours – and drive airliners with twice the speed of Concorde.
The Sabre engine is made by a small UK company that has been perfecting the for 20 years and whose founder believes it could transform our world into “something out of science fiction”.