Breakfast in New York – Lunch in Singapore – Dinner in London

Back in April, I posted about high-speed rail and how jumping to hyperloop technology might give flying some competition—maybe even supplanting it on some routes. (Riding High-Speed Rail or Shooting through a Hyperloop Tube). It garnered a couple of comments on the post and quite a few observations over e-mail. Still a great topic, and we’ll watch what happens.

One issue with hyperloop, well, call it a deficiency, for now, is intercontinental travel – or even getting to Hawaii for that matter. I’ve seen concepts for tunnels and above-ground structures, as in the video in my April blog, but across the ocean is a whole ‘nother matter.

Then along comes SpaceX, again, with what could be a total game-changer in travel if they can pull it off. (Does anyone doubt that they will?) I came across a video that animates how an inter-continental, sub-orbital transportation system might work. Take a look – Sub-orbital Trip.

Now that would be a fun trip—if short. Of course, there’s a long way to go before that happens, but they are testing a prototype of the basic concept in Texas. Several challenges to overcome – the G-force at take-off and landing, weightlessness, and of course, the cost. Depending on how a sub-orbital flight might compare to other methods (read flying for that), you’d also need to consider just how important it would be to get halfway around the world in 30 minutes.

On a side note, though, it could be a boon to cargo. Imagine a critical piece of equipment, or a life-saving organ transplant, arriving in under an hour. You can imagine scenarios where a rocket trip would be just what you need. Would that “pay the freight,” so to speak? It’s hard to say.

In the recent past, when we had a chance to get somewhere really fast, how many of us went? The Concorde was a beautiful airplane, amazingly fast, and I enjoyed watching it land every Saturday morning in Barbados when I was on a project. But practically speaking, how did it fare?

Generally, it wasn’t the economic success its promoters hoped for—but it did have a certain cachet. Those who could drop $8,000 to $12,000 to get to Paris – why not go and save half the flight time. But as a game-changer in the airline industry, shrinking the world, not so much. Even so, we hated to see her go – Final Flight from JFK.

So, is the Concorde a harbinger for SpaceX? Will cargo prove to be the real market? Will they solve the inherent challenges in flying at 17,000 miles per hour?

Given a chance, if the cost wasn’t an issue, would you go?

We’ll just need to keep an eye on Boca Chica and watch the skies. Have a safe trip.

[Disclaimer: Please accept my apologies for any ads that pop up before the linked videos. They do not reflect my position, nor do I endorse any of the products – it’s just a YouTube thing I can’t get around.]