Brussels, 24/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 14 August, the European Commission authorised a subsidy of £50 million, or around €71 million, which the United Kingdom plans to award to support the design of a SABRE space launcher engine. SABRE is a research and development (R&D) project carried out by the UK company Reaction Engines Limited (REL) and aims to develop an engine capable of powering a reusable airframe to launch satellites into low Earth orbit, significantly reducing the costs of such space missions. The Commission concluded that the funds raised on the private capital markets at this stage were insufficient to carry out a project of this kind. The British authorities have also undertaken to ensure that private investors are involved in each stage of the project, so as to limit the use of public funds. Furthermore, the risk of competition distortion is currently low, because the beneficiary project is a relatively long way from the market and REL does not currently carry out any activities on the space launcher market. (Elodie Lamer)