SpaceX to develop high speed rocket to deliver weapons for the US army in 60 minutes

In a revolutionary move, it was announced on October 7 that SpaceX will now be collaborating with the US army to build a rocket which will be able to transport weapons anywhere on the globe in merely 60 minutes. The move came only a few days after the SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk inked the $149 million contract with Pentagon to develop missile-tracking satellites. Read on to know more about SpaceX’s new endeavour.

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SpaceX’s new rocket will enable weapon delivery in under 60 minutes

While addressing a virtual conference on Wednesday, October 7, head of the US Transportation Command General Stephen Lyons announced the new deal publicly. General Lyons also stated that the Space exploration and technology company, SpaceX will be assessing the technical challenges and costs of this ambitious project. In the virtual conference which was aired on NDTA’s (National Defense Transportation Association) official website, it was revealed that up to 80 tons of cargo and weaponry could be transported to anywhere in the world in just one hour after the deal comes to life.

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Gen. Lyons further stated that the initial tests for the same would being as early as 2021. While talking about the groundbreaking deal, Gen Lyon said, “Think about moving the equivalent of a C-17 payload anywhere on the globe in less than an hour." At this, he was referring to the maximum payload that can be carried by US military transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster. It costs USD 218 million per aircraft and can fly at a top speed of 590 mph.

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A report in The Times revealed that the rocket SpaceX is planning to build will be able to travel at 7,500 mph. This means that the journey from Florida in the US to Afghanistan could be covered in an hour with a payload the equivalent to the capacity of C-17 Globemaster. US Air Force's official website states that a C-17 Globemaster can carry a payload of over 74,000 kilograms. In addition to this, a second company, Exploration Architecture Corporation (XARC) is also set to be a part of Elon Musk's SpaceX's project to build a high-speed transportation rocket for the US army.

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SpaceX recent updates

The upcoming launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission which aimed at sending four astronauts to the International Space Station has now been postponed to mid-November. The announcement was made by the agency officials on October 11 on its official website and social media handles. The decision was taken so that SpaceX could get enough time for completing hardware testing and data reviews. 

Image Source: SpaceX (Instagram)