Elon Musk’s goal is to transport passengers between major cities in less than an hour using the Starship rocket. This 120m long stainless steel spacecraft is capable of reaching speeds of up to 27,000 km/h, far exceeding the top speed of about 1,000 km/h of current commercial aircraft.
According to Twitter user @ajtourville, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may have approved SpaceX’s ambitious “Earth to Earth” travel plans in the next few years under President Donald Trump in his first term. Musk confirmed the feasibility of the project, saying: “This is now possible,” noting that the project has gained renewed attention since Trump’s reelection.
The plan has been in the works for nearly a decade, and Starship is expected to carry up to 1,000 passengers, flying into orbit and traveling parallel to the Earth’s surface to reach a destination city. However, according to the Daily Mail, passengers will be subjected to strong G-forces during takeoff and landing, along with the low gravity conditions of the flight, which will require seatbelts to be worn throughout the journey.
While the concept has great potential, there are still many regulatory and safety hurdles that SpaceX needs to overcome to realize this vision. In a 2019 tweet, Musk described Starship as an “ICBM flying at Mach 25,” with a maximum flight time of 15 to 20 minutes, eliminating the need for traditional on-board amenities like bathrooms or pilot quarters. He also emphasized the safety of the flights, comparing the experience to Disney’s Space Mountain roller coaster.
Here are Starship’s estimated flight times for some international routes:
– From London to New York: 29 minutes
– From New York to Paris: 30 minutes
– From Honolulu to Tokyo: 30 minutes
– From Tokyo to Delhi: 30 minutes
– From Sydney to Singapore: 31 minutes
– From Los Angeles to London: 32 minutes
– From London to Hong Kong: 34 minutes
– From London to Cape Town: 34 minutes
– From Sydney to Delhi: 36 minutes
– From San Francisco to Delhi: 40 minutes
– From New York to Sydney: 49 minutes
For comparison, Air India’s current San Francisco to Delhi flight takes about 15 hours. If Starship could make the journey in 40 minutes, that would cut travel times by 95 percent, or 22 times faster than current travel technology.
A post on X also speculates that the FAA could greenlight Starship’s “Earth to Earth” journey during the second term of the Donald Trump administration.
