The UK’s attempt to break the world land speed record could be canned due to a lack of funding.
The ‘Bloodhound car’, which has been built to reach speeds of 800mph, has been built to break the current record of 763mph set in the 1990s.
The Gloucestershire-based developers claim the Bloodhound car could reach 1,000mph once all development work is finished.
At such a speed, the vehicle would theoretically reach Aberdeen from London in less than half an hour if travelling in a straight line.
It’s powered by a Rolls-Royce EJ200 Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and a rocket engine from a provider that’s worked with the European Space Agency.
It also features solid aluminium wheels designed to withstand the stresses of travelling at supersonic speeds – the speed of sound.
However, the project needs an additional £8 million to attempt a new supersonic world land speed record in the relatively cool southern hemisphere winter of 2021.
Andy Green in front of the Bloodhound car. Green will be driving the Bloodhound in 2021 and attempting to beat his own land speed record – if the project secures the necessary funding
If the car completes all development work, it would run on a specially-made 1.5-mile-long race track on Hakskeen Pan, a dried lakebed in South Africa.
‘The clock is ticking to raise the necessary investment to re-group the team and crack on with the rocket programme and other car upgrades in time to hit our 2021 deadlines,’ said Bloodhound CEO and entrepreneur Ian Warhurst.
‘If we miss our cool weather window in July and August, temperatures in the Kalahari will make running a rocket untenable next year.
‘The project remains dormant whilst we try to secure the funding but at a cost of tens of thousands per month of overheads, and the threat that we miss the weather window next year, we cannot remain dormant for long.’
Bloodhound says it must secure the multi-million-pound sum by the end of this month to complete development of the car.
This will includes work on a monopropellant rocket, electric oxidiser pump, fuel system upgrades, braking mechanisms and winglets on the tail fin.
It’s powered by a EJ200 Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and features precision machined solid aluminium wheels designed to withstand the stresses of travelling at the speed of sound
The Auxiliary fuel tank is installed on the Bloodhound LSR car as work continues on the car build ahead of it’s high speed testing in South Africa last October
The car has already reached speeds of 628mph in the Kalahari Desert and is believed to be capable of up to 1,000mph.
In order to reach speeds above 800mph, Bloodhound will need another rocket to run in addition to the EJ200 jet engine from Rolls Royce, which will be provided by Norwegian rocket specialist Nammo.
Nammo has worked with the European Space Agency to develop this zero-emissions rocket as a launch motor to put small satellites – known as ‘cubesats’ – into space.
The current land speed record – the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land – was by the ThrustSSC jet car, which travelled at 763mph in Nevada desert in October 1997.
The record was set by British Royal Air Force Wing Commander Andy Green, who will be attempting to break his own record in the Bloodhound car from July to August 2021.
The car is being assembled at Bloodhound’s UK Land Speed Record Centre at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College (UTC), in the Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park.
The car, powered by a jet engine and set to be fitted with an additional rocket engine, travelled at 628mph last November
The ‘world’s fastest straight-line car ‘ was unveiled in South Africa’s Hakskeenpan desert last October
As of this month, it’s been split apart for cleaning, inspection and maintenance, with the EJ200 jet engine removed and returned to Rolls-Royce for storage.
There’s now about one year’s worth of work that the car needs to get it ready in time for the scheduled record breaking run.
Independent analysis found that anyone that contributed to the £8 million target would receive a 14-to-one return on their investment, according to Warhurst.
‘After all that this project has achieved in the past year to prove its viability, it would be devastating to end here when we are so close. We remain optimistic but really are running out of time,’ Warhurst said.
In this photo provided by Bloodhound, the vehicle speeds along the Hakskeenpan track in South Africa during trials last November
The company backing the long-term project went into administration in late 2018 before Warhurst bought the project for an undisclosed amount.
The car completed successful tests last year, reaching a top speed of 334mph in October after its unveiling and then 628mph in November.
The project was launched in 2008 and has an educational value for local schools that is ‘unequalled’, it says on its website.
The Bloodhound Education Charity is a registered charity that runs alongside the project, providing hands-on science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) activities related to the vehicle for students aged 7 and above.
