NYC to Shanghai in 40 minutes: SpaceX’s goal for point-to-point space travel
NYC to Shanghai in 40 minutes: SpaceX’s goal for
point-to-point space travel
By Michael Sheetz SAT, JUN 8 2019 8:05 AM EDT
SpaceX wants to go New York to Shanghai in 40 minutes
Sending everyday people to space has been a dream since
the days of the Apollo missions but space travel has long been out of reach for
all but a select few humans in history.
However, space tourism is slowly coming closer to
reality, with companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’
Blue Origin closing in on taking short trips up to the edge of space and back.
But what if spaceships went farther — and faster?
A recent UBS report analyzed the market for what’s known
as point-to-point space travel. It’s been touted by SpaceX as one of the
business lines of the massive Starship rocket that Elon Musk’s company is
developing.
In essence, point-to-point space travel would be the
equivalent of flying on an airplane across the world — but in less than an
hour, rather than 16 hours.
UBS believes that, if the obstacles to point-to-point
space travel can be overcome, the service would represent an annual market of
more than $20 billion.
But some disagree, saying the technology’s safety is
nowhere close to being reliable or that the travel method doesn’t solve key
logistical issues to long haul air travel.
Watch the video above to learn more about Elon Musk’s
goal of point-to-point space travel and the challenges implementation may face.
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