The spaceplane could travel between New York and London in under an hour

A British effort to build a revolutionary “spaceplane” that would fly at 25 times the speed of sound has passed a critical testing milestone.

Reaction Engines, which is based in Oxfordshire, has tested a “pre-cooler” — a technology that could allow aircraft to travel faster than ever before — at simulated speeds of Mach 3.3, or more than three times the speed of sound.

The ultimate aim is to produce a reusable vehicle that would combine the fuel efficiency of a jet engine with the power and speed of a rocket. Reaction envisages an aircraft that could travel the distance between New York and London in less than an hour — or, at even faster speeds, take people or payloads into space and return to