A Re-Cooled Cycle is newly proposed for a regeneratively cooled scramjet to reduce the hydrogen fuel flow for cooling. Upon the completion of the first cooling, hydrogen fuel can be used for secondary cooling by transferring the enthalpy from fuel to work. Fuel heat sink (cooling capacity) is thus repeatedly used to indirectly increase the fuel heat sink. Instead of carrying excess fuel for cooling or seeking for any new coolant, the cooling fuel flow is reduced, and fuel onboard is adequate to satisfy the cooling requirement for the whole hypersonic vehicle. Two new performance parameters are defined combining the characteristics of scramjet, differences between RCC and expander cycle is discussed, and pressure loss in cooling passage is also considered. Performance comparison is carried among multiple RCCs, and preliminary application limit and real possibility of RCC for scramjet is discussed. (C) 2009 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.