This has quite a long heritage, with Reaction Engines Limited being co-founded by one of the designers of HOTOL[0], which was a similar design for an air-breathing rocket engine which got a lot of press in the UK in the 1980s.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;HOTOL" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;HOTOL</a>