Musk Will Use Rockets to Transport Military Supplies to Anywhere on the Earth in a Few Minutes

 

Picture: The U.S. Department of Defense

On October 11, the Transportation Command under the U.S. Department of Defense and SpaceX, a space company under Elon Musk, joined forces to study the use of rockets to transport cargo through space and deliver much-needed supplies to the U.S. military anywhere on the planet within minutes. Although this idea is technically feasible, there are still several challenges, including cost and preparation time. According to the plan, the rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California can theoretically enter low-Earth orbit and then re-enter the atmosphere of almost any place on Earth. Rockets will have an amazing impact on military transportation. For example, a C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft flies at a speed of 800 miles per hour, and it takes 12 hours to travel from California to Okinawa, Japan. However, the Rockets can complete this journey in 30 minutes or less.

In addition, rockets do not need a series of aerial tankers to support missions, nor do they need to follow long and tortuous flight paths to avoid flying over foreign countries. At least for now, the rocket is safe, and no country can shoot it down along the most imaginable route. Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, commander of the Transportation Command, said: "Imagine transporting the equivalent of a C-17 payload to anywhere in the world in less than an hour. "General Leon is probably referring to SpaceX's interstellar spacecraft. This is a giant rocket with a height of 49 meters that can transport people and cargo to the moon, Mars and possibly farther places. It can also quickly "jump" on Earth.. The interstellar spacecraft can carry 100 tons of cargo, while the C-17 aircraft can carry 85 tons.

Transportation Command and SpaceX are currently studying two possible modes of transportation. The first involves a direct flight from a space base on the continental United States to a foreign country. The second involves pre-positioning the supply on the orbit of the spacecraft so that it can be quickly de-orbited and landed when necessary. Both of these methods can complete the delivery in about an hour or less. Can this method work? It should be technically feasible. So far, SpaceX has launched nearly 100 rockets, only two of which have failed completely or partially. Equally important in the delivery of supplies is the successful landing, and the company has also achieved considerable success in this regard.

However, a problem related to space travel is time. Although the actual space flight may only take 30 minutes, the preparation of a space transportation mission may take days, weeks, or even months. The rocket must be prepared for space flight. This process includes installing it on the launch pad, refueling the rocket, and installing payloads. In addition, the rocket can only be launched in relatively good weather, and poor conditions can cause delays of up to a week. Therefore, a trip that claims to take less than an hour may require considerable preparation time. Storing the cargo on the satellite will ensure a rapid response, but the prerequisite is to send the correct supplies into orbit.

Then there is the biggest problem that military space transportation must face: high costs. The launch cost of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket capable of carrying a 25-ton payload is $28 million. SpaceX estimates that the cost of each launch of the interstellar spacecraft may only be $2 million. On the other hand, the cost of a 12-hour flight from California to Japan on the C-17 Globemaster III is $312,000. There is also the cost of aerial refueling like the KC-135 stratospheric tanker to support the mission. In the ideal case, the cost of rocket transportation could easily be four times that of transporting the same cargo by plane. Although space transportation is still too expensive to be a peacetime military supply solution, if Transportation Command and SpaceX develop a plan to quickly prepare and launch a cargo rocket, it may become a useful alternative in wartime.