Pre-cooled turbojet

Engines that may need to operate at near-hypersonic speeds could theoretically have much higher performance if a heat exchanger is used to cool the incoming air. The low temperature allows lighter materials to be used and combustors run at their maximum speeds (ordinarily, fuel flow must be reduced to prevent the turbines from melting, but doing so greatly reduces thrust)
This leads to plausible designs like SABRE, that might permit single-stage-to-orbit, and ATREX, that might permit jet engines to be used as boosters for space vehicles.

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