HyperloopTT Expects Launch Of First Full-Scale Capsule System Within Year - Chairman

California-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT), a firm pioneering the next generation of passenger and freight transportation technologies, expects to launch a full-scale passenger capsule system within the next 12 months, Dirk Ahlborn, the company's chairman, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2021) California-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT), a firm pioneering the next generation of passenger and freight transportation technologies, expects to launch a full-scale passenger capsule system within the next 12 months, Dirk Ahlborn, the company's chairman, told Sputnik.

"There were some stretches during the pandemic that workplaces were closed due to government mandate, but now our facility in Toulouse continues to make progress every day. We expect to be moving the full-scale passenger capsule within the full-scale tube system within a year," Ahlborn said.

Hyperloop technology allows passenger capsules to float on a frictionless magnetic cushion within a series of tubes. As a result of being in a low pressure environment, the capsules can move at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour.

The new technology also has the benefit of being sustainable and emission-free, Ahlborn remarked.

"Everything about HyperloopTT systems comes down to efficiency. Hyperloop, by definition, is sustainable, emission-free travel, and because it so efficient with energy in this way we can also be profitable. This gives us a multitude of advantages over existing transportation technologies, especially rail," the company's chairman said.

HyperloopTT's cooperation with certification agency TUV SUD and reinsurance firm Munich RE has helped move the "regulatory ball" forward in both the United States and European Union, Ahlborn said.

The company's chairman added that the US Department of Transport's decision to grant hyperloop technology a "home" within the Federal Rail Administration has helped create a framework for negotiations with government officials, and has also opened up opportunities for attaining grant funding.

Over recent years, HyperloopTT has struck several deals with industry giants such as Hitachi, Ferrovial, and Altran, and Ahlborn said that these agreements have made the company stronger.

"All three companies are major global players in engineering and infrastructure. By adding their many decades of expertise to our own we become a stronger company," Ahlborn said, adding that 100 engineers from Altran are now helping the company at its base in Toulouse.

Discussions are also ongoing with interested parties in Russia, the HyperloopTT chairman commented.

"We have had many discussions with Russian businesses over the years and we have Russian team members working with us directly," Ahlborn remarked.

HyperloopTT's projects include a feasibility study in the Great Lakes region of the United States, a planned commercial prototype in Abu Dhabi, and a planned cargo prototype to be built at the port of Hamburg, in Germany.

Ahlborn said that HyperloopTT expects the next phase of the Great Lakes feasibility study to commence in the coming months.

HyperloopTT unveiled its first full-size passenger capsule at a ceremony in Spain back in October 2018.

Hyperloop technology was first proposed by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk almost a decade ago. Virgin Hyperloop, another developer, conducted the first passenger test of a full-size hyperloop system back in November 2020.