Skylon, Europe's contribution to the space race, is being developed by a company at Culham.

Reaction Engines is tapping in to the science of fusion to help create a "space plane" that takes off like a normal aeroplane, but then turns into a rocket when it goes into orbit.

The company was set up by aerospace engineers, Alan Bond, John Scott-Scott and Richard Varvill, who were involved with Britain's Hotol (Horizontal Take-Off and Landing) space project, abandoned in 1992 by Margaret Thatcher as too expensive.

The new plane, Skylon, uses pure rocket technology once it has left the atmosphere is the size of a Boeing 747 and completely re-usable.

Reaction Engines says it could be Europe's next spacebus, costing 100 times less than other technologies.

Mr Bond, who is pictured with a model of Skylon, said: "We have been out in the wilderness for 12 years while other countries have caught up - Britain has lost the lead we had in the eighties.

"But although we don't stand much chance of being the central force in any project, we do have the best technology for heat exchangers."

The heat-exchanger, smaller and lighter than conventional ones, can be used for container ship refrigeration as well as aerospace engines. Reaction Engines moved to Culham following an investment by Paul Portelli, owner of World's End Tiles, of Battersea.