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Elon Musk plans to let anyone fly around the world in half an hour – using rockets.
The SpaceX CEO plans to let people jump in reusable rockets of the exact kind used to take people to space, fly them around the world, and then jumped back in again. The plan, if it works, would allow for travel far faster than even the fastest plane.
Mr Musk made the announcement as part of a presentation on his plans to go and colonise Mars. The rocket, referred to as the Big F***ing Rocket or BFR for short, will be the same basic one that carries people to the red planet, though it will presumably be kitted out differently inside.
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NASA & ESA
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(NASA/Bill Ingalls)
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The introduction video didn't show the inside of the rocket, or many parts of the travellers' experience. Like with many of Mr Musk's announcement, it was also fairly light on details about when the journeys might actually be available.
Instead, it simply showed people walking along a pier to a boat. That boat then carried them to a barge where they climbed into the rocket, and were shot up and off at super speed around the world.
Mr Musk says the rocket would be able to go to most places in less than half an hour, and everywhere in less than an hour. A journey in the rocket would take 29 minutes between London and New York, or 39 minutes to travel the 7,000 miles to Shanghai, for instance.
"BFR will take you anywhere on Earth in less than 60 mins," Mr Musk wrote on Twitter. The video added that "most long-distance trips" would take less than 30 minutes.
SpaceX plans to start building the first spaceship, which Mr Musk said is the company's cheapest yet, by the middle of 2018.
The Interplanetary Transport System – the rocket's more official name – would be capable of carrying around 100 people spread out over 40 cabins, including common areas and an entertainment system.
Mr Musk also shared concept images of the spacecraft landed on Mars, next to a human settlement, saying he wanted to make the Red Planet "a nice place to be" with a sustainable human population of around one million.
Additional reporting by agencies
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