The company of Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, successfully competes with SpaceX not only in space, but also on Earth. The idea of underground high-speed transportation in capsules through vacuum tunnels, proposed and promoted by Elon Musk, was first tested on living people by Virgin Hyperloop in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas. According to Branson, the successful test demonstrated the potential for innovative ideas to revolutionize people’s lives in the coming years.
The first test ride in the 500-meter DevLoop tunnel was carried out on November 8, and the first passengers of the XP-2 capsule were co-founder and CTO of Virgin Hyperloop Josh Giegel and director of passenger experience Sara Luchian.
The XP-2 capsule is designed for only two passengers, while in the real version the capsule will accommodate up to 28 people. The capsule was developed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Kilo Design, according to an individual order, taking into account the safety and comfort of passengers.
The experimental capsule moved at a speed of 173 km/h. The estimated operating speed of Hyperloop trains traveling in a vacuum magnetic levitation will be up to 1223 km/h or 760 mph.
The idea of Hyperloop, proposed by Elon Musk in 2012, is beginning to take shape. Currently, three companies (SpaceX, Virgin Hyperloop and HyperloopTT) have created test sites for testing a fundamentally new vehicle. This summer, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) began to establish a clear regulatory framework for Hyperloop in the United States, which will open the door to private and public funding for the projects.
