A SpaceX Elon Musk has been awarded a $102 million contract by the US Air Force (USAF) to develop the use of the Starship rocket as a point-to-point transportation system on Earth.
The five-year contract was awarded to the space giant by the Air Force Research Laboratory (ARFL). The objective of the millionaire investment is explore the possibility of using the Starship to transport cargo of interest to the Department of Defense to any point on the globe.
Musk announced, still 2017, a plan to use Starship for “land to land” travel. Recently, with the successful testing of the platform, the idea has returned to the public and has drawn the attention of various government structures, points out the aerotime.
Last year, the USAF declared Rocket Cargo one of four Vanguard programs, allocating $9,7 million in its budget to explore the idea. The program is also present in the USAF budget for 2022, which allocates US$ 47,9 million. The additional $102 million is a significant step up from these numbers.
The new contract will help "determine exactly what a rocket can achieve when used for cargo transport, what is the true capability, speed and cost of the integrated system”, said Greg Spanjers, Rocket Cargo program manager, ao Space News.
Under the agreement, the ARFL will collect data during Starship's commercial launches, explore the compatibility of its cargo bay with containers used by the US Transportation Command, research landing systems and eventually demonstrate the process of launch and landing of a loaded starship.
“We are therefore exploring a wider range of new trajectories to mitigate overflight issues, exploring a wider range of landing options for austere locations, researching human factors when landing close to populations, and integrating a wider range of cargo including supplies. doctors”, said Spanjers.
In many respects, the contract is similar to another granted by the Transportation Command to SpaceX, along with another corporation called XArc in 2020, intended to explore the applications of rapid transport through space.
If realized, Starship's point-to-point flights would allow engers and cargo to be delivered anywhere on Earth within minutes.
