Bussard ramjets will have problems at higher relativistic speeds. The fundamental issue[1] is that from the perspective of a near light speed system, everything

Bussard ramjets will have problems at higher relativistic speeds. The fundamental issue[1] is that from the perspective of a near light speed system, everything else is near-frozen - which includes things like neutron capture and electromagnetism. It's sort of funny, but dozens or hundreds of orders of magnitude below, the same sort of dynamics are at work in air-breathing ramjets. The impact velocity of the medium is starting to tell, and the exhaust velocity isn't particularly more energetic than what's threatening to ionize the air around your leading edges. [1] Well, aside from the fact you're exceeding the average velocity of your exhaust mass