HOTOL Britain's Air Breathing SSTO Spaceplane Rocket

[@tsr207]

Thank you for this - I still have the HOTOL patch that I recieved at a BAe function in the 80s ! Alan Bond is an engineering genius !

[@DamplyDoo]

I'd like to buy that off you, sir!

[@fork9001]

How much would you think that’d be worth in a pawn shop if Skylon becomes the workhorse of the UK?

[@rolflandale2565]

Alans' only problem with the HOTOL, bieng very RToTL ( *R* as runway), was canisters of pure rocket fuel thrust horizontal, before a lift up/off the road happened.There are many ways to make a *phase vs stage engine... Just having boosters behind a ramjet head, can lather atmosphere to ignite afterburners or use the blade purpulstion to simulate thick hot atmosphere, rendering like a low flight supers sonic craft, that is actually in near high exo orbit velocity. Before going into phase 3, full rocket 🚀 booster ( like a small added booster cones) as thrusters for thev exo orbit ( thus lower fuel threshold required) into final orbit & beyond ( solar orbit energy/ion/plasma mini nuclear amp thrust engines etc).

[@liammeech3702]

​@@fork9001 Appreantly the Skylon engines were 'verified' a few years ago... which is crazy, bc Skolon is the successor t9 the HOTOL...is this some kind of scam or something.?

[@nickd1973]

@@liammeech3702 this channel creates animations of spacecraft that never made it into reality. Skylon project has tested its precooler technologies for the sabre engine but not a complete engine

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Some facts : there were some horizontal fins next to the vertical fin at the front. They were to increase maneuverability at low speeds and had to be jettisoned after takeoff. Also, the reentry angle wasn't this high (or it would have broken in pieces). Now the team works on the Skylon, the engine designed for the HOTOL being upgraded and reused for this new project. The new engine is called the SABRE. Nice vid =)

[@pseudotasuki]

Skylon is a great example of how designs can be re-worked to solve issues. HOTOL had a serious balance issue. With its tanks mostly empty, the center of mass was extremely far back. To be aerodynamically stable, that needs to be in front of the center of lift/pressure, necessitating placement of the wings at the very rear of the vehicle. The result is a spacecraft which is awkward at takeoff and extremely sensitive during reentry and landing. Skylon solved this by moving the engines and wings to the center of the vehicle.

[@pseudotasuki]

The jettisoned canards are a good example of the workarounds BAe needed to employ to make it work.

[@_aullik]

I still don't understand why you would do a SSTO. If you find a way to do a 2 stage design with the lower one being air breathing this makes soo much more sense.

[@nigelmoore957]

Why was the vertical fin ejected? Was it's sole purpose aerodynamic efficiency & stability when ascending through the atmosphere? If it kept the fin what would've been the outcome?

[@Chris.Davies]

Yes, this thing can't launch without canards. No way. Dreamy land stuff. This thing is not a lifting body, and so it is inefficient fantasy.

[@stevegonzo2091]

This is why I subscribe. I've never heard of HOTOL and now I love it. Beautifully done as usual Hazegrayart. Congrats. Well done!

[@rocketcello5354]

If you want some more history about it and how it's turned into Skylon, a dude made a pretty good video explaining it and it's history using Kerbal Space Program (a game) with a bunch of mods. It's really cool, and I recommend it kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5_XoXmeqsyjodk

[@colinberg3342]

Gotta love that Union Jack drag chute o7

[@charlesblithfield6182]

Flag chute is nice touch. Love the small details like the deceleration rockets firing on the runway dolly after the craft lifts off.

[@ThomasDillon-z6u]

It's a beautiful design concept that would never have survived atmospheric reentry. The ramjet housing is its Achilles heel.

[@BrockSamson-i1i]

the union jack parachute was a nice touch. thank you. I remember my grandad telling me about this spaceplane

[@cheeortiz1974]

These art skills are off the charts. Amazing job!!

[@ProvVFX]

You put lots of work on this one! This easily could have taken a month to make or more if I have to guess. The re-entry plasma effect was beautiful to look at! Please do more of this effect it's addicting haha.

[@PoliceboxNet1963]

Another great video, thank you. When the UJ parachute opens, you half expect to hear the Bond theme start up!

[@GreenJimll]

Bond. Alan Bond... 🙂

[@mr-huggy]

The time the UK could of dominated the space launch sector with reusable SSTO's but under supported by government and a tough design to pull off. The dream lives on maybe one day....

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

The famous book from 1957 did a big mess too. So many nice fighters had to be thrown to the trash bin, because they wanted some missiles. UK govt in the 50-60s was something... As a French, I always feel sad when I write articles about military things from this era...

[@disketa25]

Fun fact: literally the same story, mostly the same design within the same timeframe, but in the USSR. Project M-19, also killed by undersupport and underfunding. So, in a slightly different universe, it may be a fair competition...

[@MaxScooterfan]

The future belongs to Russia and China, UK is not capable of anything in space!

[@MatthewCable]

YOOO IS THAT LONDON GATWICK!!!

[@HowToSpacic]

Could you imagine how sick that would be if SSTO spaceplanes just casually launched out of gatwick

[@rayoflight62]

A dream-like exceptional rendering, my compliments...

[@RomelioSanz]

I read about HOTOL also, in a 80s science magazine, it was drawn along german Sanger, and french Hermes. All superb dreams beyond promising Space Shuttle... What a different time back then.

[@daveherbert6215]

Thanks!

[@ohppig1]

So it starts like Gerry Anderson and finishes like James Bond. How British!

[@linecraftman3907]

I believe the approach and landing shots are some of your best renders! Very well done!!!!

[@BPJJohn]

As a Kid I had a book [which I still have] that's about 30 years old called Future world, with HOTOL in one of the pages, so this is like seeing it come to life.

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Omg, I had this book too !

[@paulward4268]

OMG Haze... absolutely magnificent as usual. Love the take off - nice touch with the sled braking rocket. Great orbital shots, and re- entry. Landing was fantastic -- and as a Brit, thank you for adding the flag!!!🇬🇧 I followed HOTOL from it's earliest days, -- and now, thanks to you, I've finally seen it fly. It was worth the wait.

[@ralterdrake556]

Makes me want to see a render of the takeoff of the Pan-Am ship in 2001, as it was described in the book but never seen on-screen.

[@terencewong-lane4309]

Yes please Hazegrayart!

[@jocramkrispy305]

Then model even had the disconnect plane

[@SebastianKaliszewski]

One important note: HOTOL didn't use jet engine, it was supposed to use rocket engine(s) and air breathing part would liquefy air and extract (mostly) oxygen out of it and pump it directly into the engines. There were unsurmountable design problems though. Once the cycle closed on paper it had performance no better than a regular non breathing rocket. That's also the main difference vs Skylon. Skylon actually uses jet engines (jet - rocket hybrids) as it doesn't try to liquefy the air, it just cools it down to about -140°C (which in turn allows the engine to breathe up to mach 6; without this precooler the ram compression would make the air as hot as the combustion chamber, which would in turn halt energy extraction from the fuel via combustion, and no energy - no thrust.)

[@jocramkrispy305]

Nope, no liquification involved, Swallow and SABRE 1/2 are identical in their cycles

[@jmwoods190]

Fun fact: There was also a proposal of air-launching the HOTOL spaceplane off the back of an An-325, the unbuilt 8-engine big brother of the famed 124 & 225, the same way they would've launched MAKs and [the fictional] Pathfinder. I'd love to see Hazegrayart created an animation of that version as well, for the An-325 is one of my favorite airplane concepts!

[@tylerjohn4607]

was that the Antonov that had engines pods on the inboard mount? I have seen models of it but never knew the name

[@goatie1822]

Found your channel via Angry Astronaut ! Given that I am 61, I remember the British designed Hotol . What I also remember was how frustrated and peed off the designer was that the British government was so short sighted; Hotol was way ahead of its time. I remember it to have been a quick way to get around Earth using inner space but not into outer space. Long time ago, maybe I was wrong

[@TheFinalMinutes]

I only ever remember seeing photos of this. Another incredible piece of work here - thanks for making HOTOL come to life!

[@charlesb8065]

Hazegrayart, your channel is a pure gem. Thank you for all these wonderful videos.

[@checktheskies5040]

If only NASA missions never stopped live cameras 24/7 for education and interest for humanity to gaze into space as we want to see space from start to finish. Good CGI on this video.

[@michaeldunne338]

Fantastic imagining of HOTOL in action. Wish it came to pass, and hope Reaction Engines are able to realize their vision for Skylon in the near future. So where in Britain is the airport in this clip supposed to be located? Out west in the Cotswolds or in Cornwall? Otherwise, I see a takeoff dolly of sorts seems to have been envisioned here - was that the case? I thought with the pre-cooled jet engines an aircraft as envisioned by Alan Bond could take off fairly conventionally?

[@Boggratt]

It looks a bit like Gatwick, the runways are the same alignment 26R & 26L .

[@HowToSpacic]

If only earth was smaller, then SSTOs could actually be practical because orbit would take less energy. It’s a shame, I think the SSTO/SSRT concept is super cool but it really doesn’t pan out in practice Great animation, Hazegray

[@petrpodskalsky1785]

I think the thing that could make SSTOs work would be ground infrastructure. One option is laser launching, another are magnetic rails. SSTOs always fall slightly short, but only slightly. So I believe they would become viable if you provided that bit of ∆v from the ground (or in the case of laser launching, you could get it all the way to space). The problem is of course that it's a huge upfront cost, but it could be profitable once the space industry is robust enough.

[@HowToSpacic]

@@petrpodskalsky1785 honestly when we find a way to make high thrust ion engines or start looking into nuclear engines again we could totally get SSTOs to work, It's a shame we ditched nuclear propulsion because those are the best preforming engines in terms of efficiency that actually make thrust

[@gearheadgregwi]

Agreed. Horizontal launch uses gobs of energy compared to vertical launch. Much longer launch trajectory. Basic physics. Still... would be cool.

[@petrpodskalsky1785]

@@HowToSpacic I will never not be mad about the nuclear lightbulb and NTRs / NTERs in general being abandoned.

[@HowToSpacic]

@@petrpodskalsky1785 a nuclear powered lightbulb? well that certainly sounds interesting, I'll check it out!

[@hempsellastro]

As someone there at the time - not in the core team but in the Department and occasionally contributed to the study - this was rather fun to see. There are some comments with the view this design was flawed in some way, which it wasn’t. The Eurofighter team were doing the system design and I thrust them over any KZbin commentor or indeed Elon Musk. The design was at the concept stage where you find out issues and did have a trim problem that was impacting the payload due to the rear location of the engine. This was understood and would have been resolve the way Skylon resolved it had the project progressed. I do not remember the brake chute. When landing HOTOL and Skylon are more like hydrogen airships than conventional aircraft and the landing speeds are very slow.

[@Wayoutthere]

Getting serious THUNDERBIRDS vibes!

[@FeralRabbit]

Love the drag chute!

[@bill_ruppert]

I love the launcher.

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

A big fat rocket sled 🥰

[@mikeupton5406]

HOTOL was being proposed around the time I was a test tech NDT on Shuttle components. We were really excited about it. It looked like a really viable program. Your animation is EPIC! Thank You.

[@bradtownsend1457]

It's a long dream coming truly a game changer 😎

[@amcadam26]

I read about this in the Eagle comic when I was about 9.

[@yumazster]

Noice (to keep.with the UK theme 😁) The landing field environs are very impressive!

[@rocketdyneF1]

Imagine living next to the airport and herding it takeoff at 6am.

[@jocramkrispy305]

preferable to bagpipes at 6am

[@wileyeyefloaty665]

I bet it noises such a sound

[@vonbraunwerner9067]

2:48 "God save the queen" - I love the Union Jack drag chute. So typically british.

[@clarencehopkins7832]

Excellent stuff bro

[@dave13dc]

The operating principles of the RB545 engine is stunning stuff. Highly recommended reading if you’re an irredeemable geek like myself.

[@miguels3583]

The Thunderbirds!!!! 😮

[@sunspot42]

Thunderbirds are go!

[@bgbthabun627]

ikr?

[@MarsChroniken]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@krjames203]

When that Union Jack chute appeared, I immediately started humming the James Bond fanfare.

[@danielbrowniel]

when the chute came out, I'm positive all the brits watching this were like, "HEAR HEAR!"

[@generalyellor8188]

"Here Here?" You watch too many mid-20th-Century American movies.

[@greggall205]

I laughed at the chute. As a Brit I see nothing wrong with a little patriotism. Very James Bond.

[@danielbrowniel]

@@jocramkrispy305 right, I'll fix.

[@jocramkrispy305]

@@greggall205 As a Brit, I just think "who's paying for it"

[@raykewin3608]

HOTOL and Skylon. You must do HVX to get the whole set.

[@jocramkrispy305]

nah, you'd need Valykyrie and NTV, at the very least, and ideally HTB. HVX is studying multiple concpets

[@lostlands42]

that’s the perfect shape and launch for a rocket! Amazing !!

[@geofisika8838]

Very good animation quality! Could you do the M-19 next? That's a soviet spaceplane bomber project which can also go hypersonic in the atmosphere. A massive thing and I'd love to see your take on it!

[@zakiranderson722]

Love the rocket sledge with it's reverse thrusters!

[@Infinite_Maelstrom]

I really liked how you mirrored your Skylon video with the scenes in this.

[@playern5339]

how would the engine air intakes resist re-entry into the atmosphere?

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

The reentry speed wouldn't have been a big problem. The plane was very light at this moment (basically a big empty tank with some wings), so it would have slowed down pretty quick, even in high atmosphere. So the heating wasn't a big concern (from what I've read on the official papers about this project) ;)

[@jocramkrispy305]

the variable geometry inlets could fully close.

[@ullinhope3866]

Well done sir, a sterling job, bravo!

[@enisra_bowman]

nice Detail with the Retrorokets on the Sled

[@Wazulon]

So basically Thunderbird 1 😊

[@chris6770]

Lovely animation, but about 30 years out of date! I presume you follow Reaction Engines and the Sabre engine? They're too busy chasing the US military dollar and developing hypersonic missile/aircraft tech at present, but maybe one day we'll get a spaceplane that Alan Bond dreamed of?

[@firefly2x913]

There's already an animation of the Skylon on this channel, one of the first videos

[@orbitron2330]

@@firefly2x913 yeah but that skylon is outdated as well.

[@timjones102]

the only domestic crew launch capability Britons will ever have is the kind that requires an Irishman to install it under their cars

[@rboosterman9944]

@@timjones102 "the only domestic crew launch capability Britons will ever have is the kind that requires an Irishman to install it under their cars" 🍀🚗💣💥

[@jocramkrispy305]

@@orbitron2330 Is it? looks pretty similar to the Skyon reference vehicle.

[@runningman5871]

Still waiting in the sabre engine but it is still in development.

[@chasethevioletsun9996]

A spaceplane with fusion engines will fly before this thing ever will.

[@jocramkrispy305]

They've finished the preburner/HX3 integration, so it's getting closer.

[@basfinnis]

Great graphics as always. Thanks 😉

[@matthewconnor5483]

Watching all these videos you've done of proposed spacecraft makes me realize how amazing and simple Starship is in comparison.

[@Venture_Fanatic]

Can you do the Skylon Spaceplane?

[@howardclemetson640]

This was awesome!

[@Thumblegudget]

Nice work as always! Damn! You had to wait until after I finished all of my HOTOL videos before you did this animation didn’t you. 😛

[@Thumblegudget]

Just saw you actually posted a link to my HOTOL video in the video description. Thanks for that! 😊

[@JohannWilliam5]

Best Animation

[@altarique123]

Stunning

[@sailoranandgardener]

Beautiful

[@btrocketry3736]

2022?..Still waiting.

[@cesarg.e.5278]

👍grandioso equipo

[@Leon-Hardt]

Great quality video. Coud recreate the Ares X an Ares V?, Thxs.

[@peteranderson037]

Did that land short of the threshold?

[@greggall205]

Very pretty. So much detail in the runway area, I thought it was real. Wonder what software was used?

[@Hueanaballofficial]

British Airways in 2150:

[@danielle_pine9676]

Dude. I loved the parachute. Hell ye

[@jocramkrispy305]

I'm pretty sure the HOTOL engines fired up way too soon here. They had no static thrust, the sled was in part to get enough air flowing through the engines so they could be ignited. It would have been nice to have seen the ramjets during the ascent footage. Much better flame effects on the engines than the Skylon video, gla you took that feedback on board.

[@HeWhoX]

Beautiful idea! But Skylon project looks much more better. Orbital future belongs to shuttles anyway.

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

It's insane that this thing can fly with such a high aspect ratio.

[@randycampbell6307]

Wonderful as usual :)

[@Workerbee-zy5nx]

Thunder birds are go.

[@pontuswendt2486]

AMAZINGNES!!!

[@brik2716]

Why would you use the vehicles energy supply on the initial runway take off? Should there not be a ground base power for the take off sled? Then switch over when sufficient lift has been achieved.

[@epsilonalphaargo1948]

Any chance of the NASA Langley Shuttle II/Advanced Manned Launch System (AMLS) concept from the late 80s?

[@byaafacehead]

So cool

[@SkylersRants]

Beautifully done, as always, but would they really deploy the chute prior to the nose landing gear touching down?

[@reasonforlife214]

Amazing !!! Now do The Liberty Ship. Closed gas core nuclear thermal rocket SSTO with 30Km/s Vex and 1000ton to LEO

[@menguardingtheirownwallets6791]

Shouldn't the vertical tail structure be located at the wingtips, not on the nose of the craft?

[@hobog]

The landing chute reminds me of Austin Powers :D

[@gerstmanndavid]

Question: Why would the craft drag the Parachute all the way until it stops, instead of detaching the chute before the craft comes to a complete stop? Other than that, outstanding graphics!

[@carlito2480]

Not landing on the right spot I would be worried by the engineers lol

[@howielane8406]

This was the original concept that was purposed back in the 1970's, before they strapped the Space Shuttles on the external fuel tank and sold rocket boosters. With the heavy payloads it was more feasible. Now to swap out crew members and deliver small shipments in space, the video idea would work.

[@TheAndrew3777]

Super super super ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@gearheadgregwi]

Best hit the end of that airstrip!! You'll need all of it to stop!!🤣🤣

[@jafarshahryarigerai6432]

It's just easier than u imagine, in your dreams!!!

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

_Cool._

[@makerofgarbage5877]

I love the design it looks like it shouldn’t fly at all

[@kommandantgalileo]

the Union Jack being on the flag is very British, just like James Bond.

[@thomasafb]

Gatwick?

[@offgridnzdotcom1027]

wicked🤘

[@rishiparitala88]

wow another video

[@AnthemAnimation]

Would it still be considered an SSTO if it leaves behind that takeoff gear assembly?

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

An ASSTO : *Almost* SSTO 😂

[@GreenJimll]

Considering that never leaves the ground, isn't it really GSE? Part of "stage zero" as Elon might say?

[@ajds]

Beautiful - art is correct. That was a work of art. I hate myself for saying this, but the sound effects in vacuum bother me. I think you have used sound for on-vehicle views, and silence for off-vehicle views, and that is more effective (for me) - I am thinking of Kubrick's approach in 2001. Not that this wasn't amazing, because it was.

[@inspectormills3290]

Great video. Why aren't the sled booster rockets more powerful? Seems like they could provide more thrust to help increase speed at lift off.

[@jocramkrispy305]

They can't be too powerful, or the payload and vehicle would suffer excessive G-loads, also the vehicle doesn't want to be decelerating after launch

[@thomasciarlariello3228]

OF March 2019 by invite only to an engineering conference held inside MIT's Electrical Department on Vassar Street of Cambridge, MA. I gave presentation on a space plane engine where cryogenic deuterium fuel prevents electromagnetic coils from exceeding Curie Point to focus cosmic ray muons.