Company helps flight take off
A FIRM in Abercynon is supporting the design of a world-first hypersonic engine which will cut the flight time from London to Australia to just over four hours.
A 3D software firm in Abercynon is supporting the design of a world-first hypersonic engine which will cut the flight time from London to Australia to just over four hours.
CCSL, which is Wales’ only reseller of the 3D computer aided design software called Solidworks, is marking a decade-long working partnership with innovative technology experts Reaction Engines.
Since May 2008, CCSL, which has one of its two offices with training facilities in Abercynon, has supplied Reaction Engines with the licences and technical support to maximise its use of this piece of 3D software.
Over the years, CCSL has supplied more than 35 licences to the Abingdon-based firm, which was formed in 1989 to design and develop the technologies needed for a new class of innovative hypersonic propulsion system – the synergetic air-breathing rocket engine.
The hybrid air-breathing rocket engine, which is a cross between a jet and a rocket engine, is being designed to send an aircraft from a standing start to over five times the speed of sound for hypersonic flight in the atmosphere, and more than 25 times the speed of sound for space access.
The project has been backed by industry giants such as Boeing, Rolls Royce and BAE Systems. The UK Government has committed £60m via the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency.
CCSL’s technical knowledge of Solidworks, which is used globally in design and engineering sectors, has been instrumental in supporting the engineering experts at Reaction Engines to maximise their use of the software as they seek to bring the revolutionary engine to life.
Emyr Hughes, managing director of CCSL, said: “They bought two licences from us initially back in 2008 and have since grown to become one of our biggest clients and it’s an extremely exciting project to be part of.
“The whole team at CCSL, including myself and CCSL technical director Mike Jones, feel quite privileged to be working with such a talented team who are developing something of such global might in the aerospace industry.
“Space exploration and engineering intrigue me and I have therefore always been interested in the technicalities behind it. The work at Reaction Engines, being carried out by this team of fantastically talented engineers, is pushing current manufacturing design and material capability to the limit.
“I am proud of the fact that they wouldn’t be achieving this without the 3D software we are supplying to them.”