Transporting Soldiers and Cargo Via Spacecraft

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SpaceX, a company that specializes in the design, manufacturing, and launch of rockets and spacecraft, has offered the United States Army its Starship rocket as a way to quickly transport soldiers and material internationally. The company has also mentioned that it believes that the Army could benefit from SpaceX’s Starlink internet provider service.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s CEO and president, has mentioned how the company is new to the United States Army and that the company is busy constructing reliable and low-cost transportation systems. 

The Starship is the company’s largest project yet. The spacecraft is capable of launching 110 tons of cargo into orbit, that is more cargo than the Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane. SpaceX believes that the Army can utilize the Starship to transport cargo and soldiers between two points on Earth. 

The Starship will transport cargo across the world similarly to a ballistic missile. The spacecraft will launch into low-Earth orbit, there it rocket itself towards the landing pad on the other side of the globe. The Starship will be much faster than any other existing transportation system, reaching speeds of approximately 18,000 miles an hour according to Popularmechanics.com.

The Army could use the Starship whenever it urgently needs to transport soldiers or supplies to distant military locations. The Starship can carry up to 100 soldiers with their weapons. 

However, space travel is still considered dangerous. Forbes.com mentions that the Space Shuttle had a safety record of 1.5%, so the Starship will have to demonstrate a much safer record before the military will even consider it.

Space travel is also very expensive. Unless in an emergency situation, the Army will likely always opt to use traditional means of air travel since it is much cheaper than any space rocket to date. 

As of now it is much more likely that the Army will show interest in the Starlink Internet satellite system. The plan with Starlink is to launch 12 thousand satellites into orbit in order to provide global broadband internet. Such global communication capabilities can prove to be very useful for the United States Army.

However there is still time before the Army can be confident with Starlink. SpaceX currently has made no mention as towards the cybersecurity efforts of the program, and with highly confidential military data flowing through the network, the military would not settle for anything insecure.

The space industry seems as though it isn’t slowing down. Although, companies such as SpaceX have already made steps in revolutionizing our grasp on space, orbit, and spacecraft, there is still some time before militaries around the world inevitably begin investing in such companies.