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Defense News: One possible job for SpaceX’s BFR? Taking the Air Force’s cargo in and out of space.
Air Force Gen. Carlton Everhart, who heads Air Mobility Command, believes it could happen within the next five to 10 years, he told reporters on August 2. Everhart visited the headquarters of SpaceX and Virgin Orbit last week — he hopes to get to the Jeff Bezos’-owned Blue Origin sometime soon — to talk about how emerging space technologies could be used by the Air Force’s air mobility fleet, which transports people, cargo and fuel all over the world. SpaceX executives “tell me that they can go around the globe in 30 minutes with a BFR,” Everhart said, referencing the next-generation, reusable rocket under development by the company. “Think about this. Thirty minutes, 150 metric tons, [and] less than the cost of a C-5,” he continued. In comparison, it would take the service’s cargo aircraft take anywhere from eight to 10 hours to get to the other side of the world. “The technology is there, now we need to experiment with it,” he said. “What kinds of fuel does it need? What parts do you have to have? Does it go offshore? Does it go onshore? What kind of a footprint does it take? All the logistical things that go with it from the logistical side, that’s what I’m working [on] with industry.” Posted by: 3dc 2018-08-03 |
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