Fantastic Flight: The Orion III Spaceplane from "2001: A Space Odyssey"

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Skylon Space Plane

Reaction Engines Ltd.

Space: 2025. The British rocket-powered Skylon space plane would ascend from a runway on air-breathing rocket boosters. When the air becomes too thin, Skylon switches to onboard tanks of liquid oxygen. The craft could carry 30 passengers to a space station in Earth orbit, fulfilling the dream of routine access to space depicted in "2001."

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Karl Tate
Karl Tate
Space.com contributor

Karl's association with Space.com goes back to 2000, when he was hired to produce interactive Flash graphics. From 2010 to 2016, Karl worked as an infographics specialist across all editorial properties of Purch (formerly known as TechMediaNetwork).  Before joining Space.com, Karl spent 11 years at the New York headquarters of The Associated Press, creating news graphics for use around the world in newspapers and on the web.  He has a degree in graphic design from Louisiana State University and now works as a freelance graphic designer in New York City.