This is not going to happen. It is a very rich, successful engineer musing at what might be possible if we thought radically different about transportation. I'm as big a fan of Elon Musk's projects as anyone, but the weight assigned to these napkin calculations is ridiculous.
[Edit: If anything, this might lead people to take this type of eccentric and radical design more seriously. But given the criticism Musk's engineering ventures have had before, I wouldn't count on it.]
I hope this happens. I've only started reading the .pdf and cannot claim I will understand everything but it seems like a very promising read.
If Musk can partner with Richard Branson and other billionaires (along with contributions from people on the web) it could happen!
I wouldn't read into that. Musk has said he has no intention of developing it; he probably just needed a place to put it. SpaceX makes as much sense as anything else.
That being said -- hopefully he lied when he said he had no interest, in order to quell speculation until the announcement. Kind of like how Apple says they'll never ever launch certain things... right up until they do it.
"Feedback would be most welcome
–
please send to
hyper
loop@spacex.com
or
hyperloop@teslamotors.com
. I would like to thank
my excellent compadres at both companies for their help in putting this
together."
Probably because SpaceX has more autonomy since it doesn't need to meet the expectations of shareholders -- the same reason Musk isn't planning on an IPO with SpaceX for a really really long time.
I think the SpaceX IPO is planned for about 5-10 years from now - that's not too long. The only indication we have is that MCT will be making regular trips to Mars before SpaceX IPOs, and they seem pretty set on that happening in the next decade.
