alt Hacker NewsInteresting, but assuming they can get the engine to work as intended, the question still remains how the passenger jet would get up to Mach 5 so the engine can start working. A solid-fuel rocket booster that would then drop off?
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flohofwoe • today at 9:32 AM
I may be wrong but I think a ramjet doesn't need Mach 5 to ignite, Mach 3 to 6 is just where it is most efficient at high altitudes.
E.g. early German experiments during WW2 based on the Lorin tube (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Lorin) only had to get to 320 km/h to start working:
It is a safe bet that the first applications will be missiles and there won't be any passengers to worry about.