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SpaceX has won three military contracts in the past three months, one explanation for the need for faster transportation of equipment anywhere in the world, according to Steve Nutt, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California.
“The missiles commissioned by Spacex are responding to this need to supply hardware and other mission support elements quickly, anywhere in the world,” while traditional contractors have proven to be “cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive.”
In August, SpaceX won part of a $ 1 billion contract to launch rockets for the Space Forces. Two months later, he won a $ 149 million contract with the Pentagon for missile-tracking satellites. A week later, the US military announced a partnership with SpaceX to build a rocket capable of launching weapons at a speed of 7,500 miles per hour anywhere in the world. That would mean that a 7,652-mile trip from Florida to Afghanistan would take about an hour, with 80 tons of military equipment and accessories.
By comparison, the C-17 Globemaster military transport plane costs $ 218 million and reaches a speed of 590 miles per hour, so it would travel the same distance in about 15 hours.
Under the terms of the contract, SpaceX will estimate the costs and technical difficulties of the project, and preliminary tests are expected in 2021, General Stephen Lyons, head of the Transportation Command announced last week in a virtual conference.
“Imagine being able to transport a cargo equivalent to a C-17 cargo anywhere in the world in less than an hour. I can tell you that SpaceX is moving extremely fast in this area. I am very excited about a team’s collaboration with SpaceX.” Lyons said.
The Defense Department’s need for speed is increasingly important given growing political tensions between the United States and other countries like North Korea, Nutt says.
“The days of armored tanks and massive trucks are long gone, as they are” easy to target and destroy, “says the expert. However, the Department of Defense pursues a capability for” rapid deployment of forces, preferably without being detected. ”Theoretically, the army could act before the attack by enemy forces, thus reducing the risk of a large number of casualties as well as damage.
“The US military is reconditioning and adapting to future conflicts. Unfortunately, I think we are entering a new arms race,” says Nutt.
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