Elon Musk has unveiled further details about his astonishing and ambitious plans for his lightning-fast
SpaceX rocket to transport humans anywhere on
Earth in under an hour.
The billionaire owner of the private space firm hopes to hook up the impressive Falcon rocket to the Boring Company’s futuristic underground hyperloop transportation system.
By combining the two technologies, business magnate and entrepreneur Mr Musk thinks passengers could reach almost anywhere in the world in about an hour.
SpaceX’s chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell described the so-called Earth-to-Earth transportation plan, which Mr Musk first unveiled in September, while speaking to TED curator Chris Anderson.
She said the rocket trains could be ready to blast off in as soon as 10 years, adding that Mr Musk “will want us to go faster”, it was reported on Wednesday.
After TED Talks tweeted a quote from the conversation, Mr Musk replied with a message boasting: “Boring Company Hyperloop will take you from city center under ground & ocean to spaceport in 10 to 15 mins.”
It comes after the private rocket firm’s billionaire owner said long-haul flights from New York to London would soon take less than 30 minutes as he hinted at similar plans last year.
At the time, Mr Musk said the intercontinental, rocket flights would cost roughly the equivalent of an economy flight on a passenger jet.
The announcement was made ahead of SpaceX’s next launch, which will see Mr Musk’ Falcon 9 rocket will launch five satellites into orbit for the Iridium communications fleet.
It is expected to launch on May 22.