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Kick into Orbit. Sure that an experimental scramjet plane can be produced within six years, the Air Force has established a Scramjet Technology Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton and has already begun awarding scramjet research contracts to aerospace companies.
For space application, the Air Force is thinking about a stubby-winged scramjet encircled by its own cylindrical engine. It would be carried to an altitude of about 125,000 ft. by a more conventional plane and released at a speed of 3,500 m.p.h. The scramjet would then accelerate under its own power to a speed of 15,000 m.p.h. and soar to a height of about 180,000 ft., beyond which there is not enough oxygen in the atmosphere to support combustion. At that altitude, a small hydrogen rocket motor would be used to kick the scramjet out of the atmosphere and into orbit.
After delivering supplies to a space station, say, the scramjet would fire retrorockets, re-enter the atmosphere and fly back to earth. It would be capable of landing at any large airport with the aid of a turbojet engine, which would begin operating at lower speeds after the scramjet engine is shut down and bypassed. A 500,000-lb. scramjet might well be able to carry as much payload into orbit as a 4,000,000-lb. multistage rocket.