TruthTheOnlyDefense
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Elon Musk's exploration company SpaceX is not content with simply resettling humanity on Mars: No, they want to take you around the world in under an hour.
‘the longest part of that flight is actually the boat out and back’
Engineer and president Gwynne Shotwell sat down in a TED Talk to explain how SpaceX's "BFR" (Big Falcon Rocket) could be used for Earth-to-Earth trips.
"Basically what we're going to do is fly BFR like an aircraft and do point-to-point travel on Earth," said Shotwell.
"You could take off from New York City and fly halfway across the globe, and you'll be on the BFR for roughly half an hour or 40 minutes – the longest part of that flight is actually the boat out and back."
(One of the floating launchpads theorised by SpaceX. Image: SpaceX)
SpaceX's concept – if you can believe it – is to establish a series of floating launch pads in major cities around the world, each capable of launching and landing a BFR.
The water surrounding the launch pads would give the rocket sufficient space and cooling to conduct multiple launches without disturbing the city or buying an enormous swathe of expensive land.
Travellers would then take a boat out to the pad, board the BFR, and within an hour land on a similar pad halfway across the world.
Because the rocket can travel up into the outer layers of Earth's atmosphere (and reach speeds of 29,000 km/h) it's conceivable you could fly from Sydney to London in 35 minutes.
(The first BFR flight will have up to 100 passengers. Image: SapceX)
It sounds expensive too – but SpaceX has come up with a plan to reduce the cost of a ticket.
"So the first BFR will have approximately 100 passengers. Everyone thinks rockets are expensive, and to a large degree they are, so how could we possibly compete with airline tickets here?" said Shotwell.
"But if I can do this trip in a half hour, I can do dozens of these a day. A long-haul aircraft can only do one trip a day.
"So even if my rocket was slightly more expensive, I can run ten times what they're running in a day and really make the revenue that I need to out of that system."
When pushed on the sheer logistics of the scheme, Shotwell simply replied that "it was definitely going to happen" and she expects BFRs to be completing trips "within a decade".
"I think [the cost of a ticket] will be between economy and business," said Shotwell.
"But it only takes an hour."
(A BFR launching a satellite payload in space. Image: SpaceX)
SpaceX proposed times to travel around the world
Route
Distance
Commercial Airline
Space X BFR
Los Angeles to New York
3,983 km
5 hours, 25 minutes
25 minutes
Bangkok to Dubai
4,909 km
6 hours, 25 minutes
27 minutes
Tokyo to Singapore
5,350 km
7 hours, 10 minutes
28 minutes
London to New York
5,555 km
7 hours, 55 minutes
29 minutes
New York to Paris
5,849 km
7 hours, 20 minutes
30 minutes
Sydney to Singapore
6,288 km
8 hours, 20 minutes
31 minutes
Los Angeles to London
8,781 km
10 hours, 30 minutes
32 minutes
London to Hong Kong
9,648 km
11 hours, 50 minutes
34 minutes
https://finance.nine.com.au/2018/05...ansport-you-across-the-world-in-under-an-hour
‘the longest part of that flight is actually the boat out and back’
Engineer and president Gwynne Shotwell sat down in a TED Talk to explain how SpaceX's "BFR" (Big Falcon Rocket) could be used for Earth-to-Earth trips.
"Basically what we're going to do is fly BFR like an aircraft and do point-to-point travel on Earth," said Shotwell.
"You could take off from New York City and fly halfway across the globe, and you'll be on the BFR for roughly half an hour or 40 minutes – the longest part of that flight is actually the boat out and back."
(One of the floating launchpads theorised by SpaceX. Image: SpaceX)
SpaceX's concept – if you can believe it – is to establish a series of floating launch pads in major cities around the world, each capable of launching and landing a BFR.
The water surrounding the launch pads would give the rocket sufficient space and cooling to conduct multiple launches without disturbing the city or buying an enormous swathe of expensive land.
Travellers would then take a boat out to the pad, board the BFR, and within an hour land on a similar pad halfway across the world.
Because the rocket can travel up into the outer layers of Earth's atmosphere (and reach speeds of 29,000 km/h) it's conceivable you could fly from Sydney to London in 35 minutes.
(The first BFR flight will have up to 100 passengers. Image: SapceX)
It sounds expensive too – but SpaceX has come up with a plan to reduce the cost of a ticket.
"So the first BFR will have approximately 100 passengers. Everyone thinks rockets are expensive, and to a large degree they are, so how could we possibly compete with airline tickets here?" said Shotwell.
"But if I can do this trip in a half hour, I can do dozens of these a day. A long-haul aircraft can only do one trip a day.
"So even if my rocket was slightly more expensive, I can run ten times what they're running in a day and really make the revenue that I need to out of that system."
When pushed on the sheer logistics of the scheme, Shotwell simply replied that "it was definitely going to happen" and she expects BFRs to be completing trips "within a decade".
"I think [the cost of a ticket] will be between economy and business," said Shotwell.
"But it only takes an hour."
(A BFR launching a satellite payload in space. Image: SpaceX)
SpaceX proposed times to travel around the world
Route
Distance
Commercial Airline
Space X BFR
Los Angeles to New York
3,983 km
5 hours, 25 minutes
25 minutes
Bangkok to Dubai
4,909 km
6 hours, 25 minutes
27 minutes
Tokyo to Singapore
5,350 km
7 hours, 10 minutes
28 minutes
London to New York
5,555 km
7 hours, 55 minutes
29 minutes
New York to Paris
5,849 km
7 hours, 20 minutes
30 minutes
Sydney to Singapore
6,288 km
8 hours, 20 minutes
31 minutes
Los Angeles to London
8,781 km
10 hours, 30 minutes
32 minutes
London to Hong Kong
9,648 km
11 hours, 50 minutes
34 minutes
https://finance.nine.com.au/2018/05...ansport-you-across-the-world-in-under-an-hour
