SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has confirmed his intention to use Starship for efficient international passenger flights between major cities. During a speech at the SpaceX launch site in Texas, Musk expressed the opinion that Starship, comprising the Super Heavy rocket and the Starship spacecraft, had a “pretty good chance” of becoming the fastest passenger transport on the planet in the future.
In 2023, SpaceX completed 96 successful missions, safely flew 12 more astronauts to orbit, launched two flight tests of Starship, and more than doubled the number of people around the world connected by @Starlink.
Watch @elonmusk deliver a company update: pic.twitter.com/7zeTlQLgp9
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 12, 2024
He pointed to the fastest way to travel from one side of the Earth to the other — an intercontinental ballistic missile. But he jokingly added that this is possible only if there are no nuclear bombs and there is a reliable landing part.
This is not the first time Musk has talked about using Starship as a new type of passenger transportation. Seven years ago, he already noted that the cost of a seat on board a suborbital spacecraft should be comparable to an airplane ticket.
SpaceX has released a video in which it sees the future of passenger transportation. They note that people will be able to fly to most places on Earth in about 30 minutes. Routes include New York-Shanghai in 39 minutes, London-Dubai or New York in 29 minutes, and Los Angeles-Toronto in 24 minutes.
Obviously, the implementation of passenger transportation using Starship will take several years. SpaceX continues to work on a successful test flight of the rocket after two failed attempts last year. The third test may take place as early as next month.
Before launching passenger flights, SpaceX plans to use Starship to transport crew and cargo to the Moon, collaborating with NASA on the Artemis program. All this is necessary for the further realization of the long-standing dream of mankind: the flight of colonists to Mars.
Earlier, we reported on how NASA defended Elon Musk in the drug use scandal.
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