'It's so sexy': Edmonton entrepreneurs developing commercial craft capable of space travel

EDMONTON -

An Edmonton company hopes to enter the space race and compete with the likes of SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Space Engine Systems is developing high-powered engines capable of propelling a small aircraft to five times the speed of sound. The local team is nearly ready to test its new ramjet they have dubbed the Sexbomb.

“We wanted to call it SESBomb, but then we thought, it’s so sexy, we’ll call it Sexbomb,” said Pradeep Dass, Space Engine Systems president.

Dass has worked in the field for decades, starting his own company in 2012. He hopes to make his modified military turbines the primary propulsion choice for commercial space travel.

“The only aim in this company, you ask any of my engineers, and they would say: beat just one company,” Dass added.

“We just gotta beat SpaceX,” he said. “We’ve gotta be the lowest cost (propulsion system) in the world.”

The Sexbomb, with a cruise altitude of 17.4 kilometres, is a demonstrator vehicle designed to be launched from the underside of a supersonic jet.

Powered flight is designed to last for around 300 seconds before the vehicle enters into a controlled glide back to the ground.

The demonstrator aims to hone technologies at scale to pave the way for future spacecraft.

“Everything we are using is basically off the shelf, but we are modifying it and putting it all together,” Dass said.

He hopes to keep the company Canadian and run tests at the Lynn Lake Airport in northern Manitoba in the next few months.

Any test that breaks the sound barrier needs special clearance from Transport Canada. Dass says he is still waiting for approval. In the meantime, he has sent applications to test in the United States and United Kingdom.

“I have no time to wait around,” Dass said. “Because we believe in building, testing, failing, proving, testing, and succeeding.”

Dass says the military will likely be interested in the ramjet technology, which could have applications for hypersonic missile defence. It could also expedite air travel, with a flight from Toronto to Edmonton lasting only 30 minutes.

Space Engine Systems hopes to complete full scale engine testing by the end of the year and complete sub-orbital, point to point, and low Earth orbit missions by 2023.

“So once we test, and if it’s good, I’m sure there will be interest,” Dass said. “I’m positive.”